scholarly journals Risk factors and comorbidities that predispose to atrial fibrillation

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-13
Author(s):  
Marijana Jandrić-Kočić

Objective. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in clinical practice affecting 1-2% of the world population. It is characterized by high-frequency atrial excitation, consequent asynchronous contraction, and irregular ventricular excitation. Risk factors and comorbidities predispose to AF by altering the extracellular matrix, altering the function of fibroblasts and fat cells, ion channels, myocytes, the autonomic nervous system, endothelial and vascular changes. The study aimed to identify risk factors and comorbidities that were statistically significantly associated with the onset of AF. Methods. The study was a cross-sectional study conducted at the Krupa Health Center at Uni in the period from 1 November 2017 to 1 January 2019. Data were collected through medical history, physical examination, electrocardiograms, laboratory diagnostics, ultrasound examination and available medical records. Data processing was performed using standard statistical methods. Results. The study included 145 randomly selected patients, 96 (66.2%) women and 49 (33.8%) men., average age 63 ± 9.8 years. AF was more common in women older than 60 years and people consuming alcohol (p<0.05). Comorbidities associated with FA are: left ventricular hypertrophy, mitral regurgitation, hypertension, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and obesity (p<0.05). Conclusion. Early detection, timely and adequate management of comorbidity and risk factors of FA prevents or slows the progression of AF, raises the quality of life of patients, reduces the costs of health care and work absenteeism.

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 228-233
Author(s):  
Jhonatan Betancourt-Peña ◽  
Juan Carlos Ávila-Valencia ◽  
Jorge Karim Assis ◽  
David Alejandro Escobar-Vidal

Introduction: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. An upward trend is estimated by 2030. One of the causes of mortality is the exacerbations of symptoms that result in hospitalizations. These hospitalizations reduce the quality of life, limit performance in daily life, and increase the costs for the health system and the patient. Objective: This study aimed to determine the differences between hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients with a medical diagnosis of COPD, considering some sociodemographic and clinical variables, and survival rates. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, which included patients diagnosed with COPD who initiated pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) from January to September 2018. The patients were divided into two groups: patients with one or more exacerbations that led to the hospitalization (COPD-H) and patients without hospitalizations in the last year (COPD-NH). Results: There were 128 participants (78 males and 50 females), with a mean age of 71.10±(9.34) in the COPD-H group and 71.30±(8.91) in the COPD-NH group. When comparing both groups, COPD-NH had a higher socioeconomic status (p=0.041), reporting a higher FEV1 44.71± (14.97), p=0.047, and comorbidities according to the COTE index (p<0.001). Conclusion: The patients with the highest number of hospitalizations belonged to a lower socioeconomic stratum and had a higher number of comorbidities. Therefore, it is necessary to identify these factors at the beginning of PR.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. e038874
Author(s):  
Yali Fan ◽  
Wenjing Xu ◽  
Yuanying Wang ◽  
Yiran Wang ◽  
Shiwen Yu ◽  
...  

ObjectivesOccupational dust exposure may induce various lung diseases, including pneumoconiosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The features of combined COPD and pneumoconiosis have not been well described, and this may hamper the management. This study aimed to describe the prevalence and characteristics as well as the risk factors of the combined diseases.DesignA cross-sectional study.Setting and participants758 patients with pneumoconiosis were recruited at a single-medical centre. Of these, 675 patients with pneumoconiosis, including asbestosis, silicosis, coal workers’ pneumoconiosis and other pneumoconiosis, was eligible for analysis.Primary outcome measuresCOPD was diagnosed based on clinical features and/or history of exposure to risk factors and post bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio <0.7. Clinical data were collected from predesigned medical reports. The patients underwent both chest radiograph and high-resolution CT scans. Risk factors for combined COPD and pneumoconiosis were analysed using regression analysis.ResultsCOPD prevalence overall was 32.7% (221/675) and was the highest in silicosis (84/221) and coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (100/221). COPD prevalence increased with smoking pack-years, dust exposure duration and pneumoconiosis stage. Patients with combined diseases had lower body mass index, higher smoking index and worse pulmonary function. Risk factors for combined diseases included heavy smoking, silica or coal exposure and advanced pneumoconiosis. The interaction between dust exposure and smoking in COPD was also identified. The risk of combined COPD significantly increased with heavy smoking and silica or coal exposure (OR 5.49, 95% CI 3.04 to 9.93, p<0.001).ConclusionsCOPD is highly prevalent in patients with pneumoconiosis, especially patients with silicosis and coal workers’ pneumoconiosis. Occupational dust exposure as well as heavy smoking is associated with an increased risk of combined COPD and pneumoconiosis, which demands an effective preventive intervention.


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