April 30, 2024- Atrial fibrillation (Afib), a common type of arrhythmia that is on the rise in people under the age of 65, is more dangerous in this increasingly younger population than previously thought, according to a new study published in Circulation Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology and authored by physician-scientists at the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute.
The study, which is among the first to examine a large group of Afib patients younger than 65 in the U.S., found that these younger patients were more likely to be hospitalized for heart failure, stroke or heart attack and had significantly higher rates of comorbidity and mortality, compared to similarly aged and gender-matched people who do not have Afib.
UPMC team found that over the course of a decade, survival rates for those with the arrythmia were 1.3 to 1.5 times worse for men with Afib, and 1.82 to 3.16 times worse for women, compared to similarly aged patients who did not have Afib. The patients studied also had high rates of cardiovascular disease risk factors, including smoking, obesity, hypertension and sleep apnea, which contribute to damaging structural and electrical changes in the heart over time.