Atrial fibrillation prevalence in a Colombian university hospital

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of atrial fibrillation in a sample of routine electrocardiograms in patients older than 60 years at a university hospital. METHODS: A random sample stratified by decade of age in the database of preoperative electrocardiograms of patients hospitalized for any cause and of those who consult to the emergency department of a high complexity hospital of Bogota. Each electrocardiogram was reviewed to confirm or discard atrial fibrillation. RESULTS: Of a total of 31,716 records, a sample of 2,308 electrocardiograms was selected of which 110 (4.8%) showed atrial fibrillation. The distribution by age group was as follows: 60-69 years 1.8% (16 of 848), 70-79 years 4.6% (38 of 821), 80-89 years 8.9% (43 of 521), and over 90 years 11.0% (13 of 118). The adjusted prevalence for the Colombian population over60 years is 3.6% (95% CI: 3.4-3.8). CONCLUSIONS: Although the sample corresponds to a single city in Colombia and has potential selection bias, the prevalence of atrial fibrillation in the country could be similar to to that described in the Framingham study.