Diabetes may be independent risk factor for atrial fibrillation

Patients with diabetes appear to be at greater risk for developing atrial fibrillation, especially those with longer duration of treated diabetes and poor glycemic control.

Results of a population-based, case-control study showed that 17.9% of patients with atrial fibrillation also had pharmacologically treated diabetes compared with 14.1% of people without atrial fibrillation.

To examine the association between diabetes and atrial fibrillation risk, researchers identified 1,410 patients with newly recognized atrial fibrillation in a large, integrated health care delivery system.

They compared atrial fibrillation risk, diabetes status, diabetes duration and glycemic control in these patients with 2,203 controls who did not have atrial fibrillation.

According to the results, patients with treated diabetes had an adjusted OR of 1.4 for atrial fibrillation (95% CI, 1.15-1.71) compared with patients without diabetes. Moreover, the risk for developing atrial fibrillation was 3% higher for each additional year of diabetes duration among patients with treated diabetes.

The risk for atrial fibrillation was higher for patients with treated diabetes and poor glycemic control. Risk was greatest in patients with an HbA1c level more than 9% (OR=1.96; 95% CI, 1.22-3.14), followed by 8% to 9% (OR=1.46; 95% CI, 1.02-2.08), 7% to 8% (OR=1.48; 95% CI, 1.09-2.01), and lowest for 7% or less (OR=1.06; 95% CI, 0.74-1.51).

Future research is needed to identify and test methods to reduce the risk for atrial fibrillation in patients with diabetes, the researchers concluded.

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Dublin S. J Gen Intern Med. 2010;doi:10.1007/s11606-010-1340-y.
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