Abstract 13659: Prevalence of Diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation in the United States
Jean Jacques Noubiap, Janet J Tang, Justin T Teraoka, Thomas A Dewland, Gregory M Marcus- Physiology (medical)
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Background: A study done in 1996-1997 predicted that there would be 3.3 million people with atrial fibrillation (AF) in the United States in 2020. However, contemporary estimates of AF prevalence in the US are lacking. Therefore, we estimated the minimum age-, sex-, and race-stratified prevalence of diagnosed AF in California, and the number of people with diagnosed AF in US.
Methods: California’s Department of Health Care Access and Information databases were used to identify adults aged ≥ 20 years who received care in an ambulatory surgery unit, emergency department, or inpatient hospital in California between January 01, 2005, and December 31, 2019. AF was defined based on ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes. We estimated the cumulative number of people diagnosed with AF in California from 2005 to 2019 and accounted for interim mortality using social security death index data. We applied age- and sex-specific AF prevalence data in California to census information on the US population to estimate the number of people with diagnosed AF in US.
Results: The estimated population prevalence of diagnosed AF in adults in California was 2.04% in 2019. It was higher in males than females (2.42% vs 1.73%, p < 0.0001), and in Whites (3.82%) compared to Blacks (2.10%), Asian (1.13%), Hispanic (0.93%), < 0.0001. This prevalence increased with age, from 0.04% in the 20-24 age group, to 21.48% in those aged ≥ 85 years. After accounting for deaths, there was an estimated 657,584 people with diagnosed AF in California at the end of 2019. We estimated that at least 5,955,806 people (53.0% males) had AF in the US in 2019. The number of males with AF was higher than females in all age groups, except in those aged ≥ 80 years. The number of affected people increased with age, from 8,074 in those aged 20-24 years, to 1,416,282 in those aged ≥ 85 years.
Conclusion: The prevalence of diagnosed AF in the US is higher than previously estimated. More efficient prevention and treatment strategies are needed to curb the burden of AF in the US.