Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of study groups. Data are no (%) of patients unless stated otherwise
| Men | Women | |
|---|---|---|
| No (%) | 50 135 (49.7) | 50 667 (50.3) |
| Age (years) | ||
| Mean (standard deviation) | 74.7 (13.5) | 80.9 (10.6) |
| Median | 78 | 83 |
| History of atrial fibrillation | ||
| First ever diagnosis <7 days | 30 905 (62) | 31 469 (62) |
| Medical history more common in women | ||
| Thyroid disease | 1218 (2) | 5265 (10) |
| Frequent falls | 2990 (6) | 6368 (13) |
| Dementia | 2444 (5) | 3571 (7) |
| Pulmonary embolism | 784 (2) | 1111 (2) |
| Thromboembolism | ||
| Ischaemic stroke* | 6625 (13) | 8095 (16) |
| Other thromboembolism† | 3130 (6) | 3757 (7) |
| Anaemia | 5872(12) | 7169 (14) |
| Hypertension | 19 188 (38) | 23 511 (46) |
| Heart failure | 15 491 (31) | 17 644 (35) |
| Medical history more common in men, bleeding | ||
| Intracranial bleeding | 1314 (3) | 1015 (2) |
| Other major bleeding | 3229 (6) | 3231 (6) |
| Use of pacemaker | 3650 (7) | 3272 (6) |
| Diabetes | 9272 (18) | 8423 (17) |
| Emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 4393 (9) | 3793 (7) |
| Medical history more common in men, vascular disease | ||
| Myocardial infarction | 11 104 (22) | 9224 (18) |
| Other vascular disease‡ | 2699 (5) | 2244 (4) |
| Cancer within three years | 7033 (14) | 4385 (9) |
| Platelet defects or coagulopathy | 809 (2) | 561 (1) |
| Renal disease | 3668 (7) | 2331 (5) |
| Liver disease | 870 (2) | 541 (1) |
| Alcohol index§ | 2715 (5) | 544 (1) |
| Stroke risk score (mean (standard deviation)) | ||
| CHADS2 | 1.9 (1.4) | 2.3 (1.4) |
| CHA2DS2-VASc | 3.0 (1.8) | 4.4 (1.7) |
| Use of antithrombotic drugs | ||
| Acetylsalicylic acid only | 28 874 (58) | 32 044 (63) |
| Clopidogrel only | 908 (2) | 1060 (2) |
| Acetylsalicylic acid and clopidogrel | 3013 (6) | 2063 (4) |
| None of the above | 17 340 (35) | 15 500 (31) |
| Use of other drugs | ||
| β blockers | 30 016 (60) | 33 114 (65) |
| Class 1 anti-arrhythmic drugs | 1249 (2) | 934 (2) |
| Class 3 anti-arrhythmic drugs | 4190 (8) | 3257 (6) |
| Verapamil or diltiazem | 1862 (4) | 2638 (5) |
| Calcium blocker dihydropyridine | 7869 (16) | 8871 (18) |
| Digoxin | 10 289 (21) | 14 640 (29) |
| Diuretics | 24 528 (49) | 31 898 (63) |
| Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers | 20 687 (41) | 19 519 (39) |
| Statin | 13 282 (26) | 9717 (19) |
All comparisons between men and women were P<0.05, except for history of atrial fibrillation (P=0.13).
*Narrow definition: previous diagnosis of ischaemic stroke (ICD-10 code I63) as principal diagnosis only.
†Narrow definition: previous secondary diagnosis of ischaemic stroke (I63) or any diagnosis of unspecified stroke (I64), transient ischaemic attack (G45), or peripheral emboli (I74).
‡Arterial disease without previous myocardial infarction (I65, I70-73).
§Diagnostic codes used by the Swedish Board of Health of Welfare since 1987 to report alcohol related mortality (web appendix, table w1).