Table 2. Telomere length in quartiles and risk of incident AF.

	Telomere quartiles	HR(95% CI)	P-value
Unadjusted model	1. (≤ -0.18)	1.43(0.85–2.39)	0.181
	2. (-0.18–0.00)	1.64(1.02–2.66)	0.043
	3. (0.00–0.20)	1.32(0.83–2.09)	0.245
	4. (≥ 0.20)	1(reference)
Age-adjusted model	1. (≤ -0.18)	0.69(0.44–1.10)	0.123
	2. (-0.18–0.00)	1.03(0.67–1.60)	0.882
	3. (0.00–0.20)	1.05(0.68–1.64)	0.820
	4. (≥ 0.20)	1(reference)
Sex-adjusted model	1. (≤ -0.18)	1.38(0.82–2.32)	0.221
	2. (-0.18–0.00)	1.61(0.99–2.59)	0.053
	3. (0.00–0.20)	1.31(0.82–2.07)	0.258
	4. (≥ 0.20)	1(reference)
Model adjusted for sex, BMI, antihypertensive treatment, myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, PR-interval	1. (≤ -0.18)	0.84(0.50–1.42)	0.517
	2. (-0.18–0.00)	1.19(0.72–1.96)	0.490
	3. (0.00–0.20)	1.19(0.71–1.98)	0.509
	4. (≥ 0.20)	1(reference)

Hazard ratios are calculated for quartiles with shorter telomeres with the longest quartile as reference (quartile 4). The telomere length is the ratio of telomere expression divided by reference gene and is standardized per standard deviation. Log transformed T/S ratios were centered around 0. Abbreviations: AF = atrial fibrillation, BMI = body mass index, CI = confidence interval, HR = Hazard ratio.