University hospitals, general hospitals, private clinics: Place-based differences in patient characteristics and outcomes of AF—A SAKURA AF Registry Substudy

• Published in: Journal of cardiology 2020-01, Vol.75 (1), p.74-81
• Main Authors: Kogawa, Rikitake, Okumura, Yasuo, Yokoyama, Katsuaki, Matsumoto, Naoya, Tachibana, Eizo, Kuronuma, Keiichiro, Oiwa, Koji, Nishida, Toshihiko, Matsumoto, Michiaki, Kojima, Toshiaki, Hanada, Shoji, Nomoto, Kazumiki, Sonoda, Kazumasa, Arima, Ken, Takahashi, Fumiyuki, Kotani, Tomobumi, Ohkubo, Kimie, Fukushima, Seiji, Itou, Satoru, Kondo, Kunio, Chiku, Masaaki, Ohno, Yasumi, Onikura, Motoyuki, Hirayama, Atsushi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Clinics; Hospitals; Japanese atrial fibrillation; Outcomes
• ISSN: 0914-5087; 1876-4738
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jjcc.2019.04.015

•Atrial fibrillation (AF) patients at a private clinic are older than at a university/general hospital.•Strokes appear to be lower in clinic patients than in other hospital patients.•Patients at a clinic have lower cardiovascular events than at other hospitals.•Our data provide new insights into the clinical management of AF patients. Relations between characteristics and outcomes of patients in Japan with atrial fibrillation (AF) and the type of medical facility providing their outpatient care are unclear. We compared patient characteristics and outcomes between 2 university hospitals (n=1178), 20 general hospitals (n=1308), and 41 private clinics (n=751) (follow-up: 39.3 months) in the prospective SAKURA AF Registry. Private clinic patients were significantly older than university hospital and general hospital patients (73.4±9.2 vs. 70.3±9.8 and 72.6±8.9 years; p