Baseline characteristics of patients, stratified by presence or absence of confirmed atrial fibrillation
| Characteristic | No. (%)* | p value Atrial fibrillation confirmed†: yes v. no | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall population n = 2054 | Atrial fibrillation confirmed after screening†: | |||
| Yes n = 56 | No n = 1998 | |||
| Age, yr, mean ± SD | 73.7 ± 6.9 | 78.2 ± 7.0 | 73.6 ± 6.8 | < 0.001 |
| Male sex | 958 (46.6) | 35 (63) | 923 (46.2) | 0.016 |
| White ethnicity | 1783 (86.8) | 53 (95) | 1730 (86.6) | 0.079 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2), mean ± SD | 28.3 ± 5.6 | 29.9 ± 6.5 | 28.2 ± 5.5 | 0.029 |
| Comorbidity | ||||
| Heart failure | 53 (2.6) | 14 (25) | 39 (2.0) | < 0.001 |
| Hypertension | 1214 (59.1) | 43 (77) | 1171 (58.6) | 0.006 |
| Diabetes | 574 (27.9) | 20 (36) | 554 (27.7) | 0.19 |
| Previous stroke, transient ischemic attack, or systemic embolism | 149 (7.3) | 8 (14) | 141 (7.1) | 0.040 |
| Previous myocardial infarction | 149 (7.3) | 7 (13) | 142 (7.1) | 0.13 |
| Peripheral vascular disease or aortic atheroma | 86 (4.2) | 5 (9) | 81 (4.1) | 0.073 |
| Valvular heart disease | 42 (2.0) | 8 (14) | 34 (1.7) | < 0.001 |
| Previous cardiac surgery | 200 (9.7) | 15 (27) | 185 (9.3) | < 0.001 |
| Current or former smoker | 1036 (50.4) | 35 (63) | 1001 (50.1) | 0.067 |
| CHA2DS2-VASc score = 1 | 173 (8.4) | 2 (4) | 171 (8.6) | 0.23 |
| CHA2DS2-VASc score = 2 | 567 (27.6) | 6 (11) | 561 (28.1) | 0.004 |
| CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥ 3 or higher | 1314 (64.0) | 48 (86) | 1266 (63.4) | < 0.001 |
| Heart rate (beats/min), mean ± SD | 70.5 ± 11.80 | 76.3 ± 11.43 | 70.4 ± 11.78 | < 0.001 |
| Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg, mean ± SD | 137.9 ± 16.87 | 133.2 ± 17.18 | 138.0 ± 16.84 | 0.035 |
| Diastolic blood pressure, mm Hg, mean ± SD | 76.4 ± 9.77 | 77.9 ± 11.87 | 76.3 ± 9.71 | 0.33 |
Note: CHA2DS2-VASc score = points for congestive heart failure, hypertension, age = 75 (doubled), diabetes mellitus, stroke (doubled), presence of vascular disease, age 65–74 yr, sex class of female, SD = standard deviation.
↵* Unless otherwise indicated.
↵† Confirmed atrial fibrillation (AF) required a 12-lead ECG showing AF for the entire tracing, or a Holter monitor showing > 30 s of continuous AF. Only patients with 1 or more “positive” screening tests were sent for confirmatory testing.