Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies.
| References | Country | Study design | % of male | No. of pts. | No. of dementia | Inclusion criteria | Exclusion criteria | AF diagnosis | Dementia diagnosis | Follow-up period (years, months) | Outcome measure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tilvis et al. (2004) | Finland | Cohort | 26.39 | 629 | 629 | Random sample of pts born in 1904,1909, and 1914 | No specified | H&P, medical record | MMSE and CDR | 5 | HR = 2.88 (1.26–6.06) |
| Elias et al. (2006) | USA | Cohort | 100 | 1,011 | 952 | Male offspring of the Framingham heart study | Pts with dementia, prior stroke, females, decline examination | ECG, ECG-H, H&P | Neuropsychological tests approved by a panel of neurologists and neuropsychiatrists | 30 | HR = 4.01 (1.84–8.74) |
| Forti et al. (2006) | Italy | Cohort | 37 | 431 | 36 | Pts > 60 yrs. seeking medical advice for cognitive complaints | Pts with psychiatric disorder, Parkinson disease, epilepsy substance abuse | H&P | MMSE and neuropsychological tests | 4 | HR = 1.10 (0.40–3.03) |
| Rastas et al. (2007) | Finland | Cohort | 20.43 | 1,106 | 339 | Pts ≥ 85 y between 1991 and 1999 | Pts who died before examination | ECG, ECG-H, medical records | DSM-III, MMSE | 3.5 | HR = 0.86 (0.50–1.47) |
| Marengoni et al. (2011) | Sweden | Cohort | NR | 685 | 170 | Pts > 75 years | Pts with dementia, prior stroke | H&P, medical records, ICD codes | DSM-III Revised | 6 | HR = 0.9 (0.50–1.70) |
| Peters et al. (2009) | UK | RCT | 34.59 | 3,336 | 263 | Pts > 80 yrs. with hypertension | Pts with dementia | Not specified | DSM-IV | 1.8 | HR = 1.03 (0.62–1.72) |
| Bunch et al. (2010) | USA | Cohort | 60.1 | 37,025 | 1,535 | Pts included in the Intermountain Healthcare System database | Pts with dementia | ICD codes | ICD codes | 5 | HR = 1.36 (1.13–1.63) |
| Dublin et al. (2011) | USA | Cohort | 40 | 3045 | 572 | Pts ≥ 65 yrs. | Pts with dementia, prior stroke | ICD codes | DSM-IV | 6.8 | HR = 1.38 (1.10–1.73) |
| Marzona et al. (2012) | Italy | RCT | 70.3 | 31,506 | 890 | Pts ≥ 55 yrs., history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes with end-organ damage | Pts with heart failure, substantial valvular disease, or uncontrolled hypertension | ECG, medical records | MMSE | 4.7 | HR = 1.30 (1.14–1.49) |
| Rusanen et al. (2014) | Finland | Cohort | 37.6 | 1,510 | 127 | Pts of the Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Dementia (CAIDE) study, Pts aged 65 to 79 yrs | Not properly examined, not properly followed-up | ICD codes, MRI/CT | ICD codes, DSM-IV, MMSE | 7.8 | HR = 2.61 (1.05–6.47) |
| Liao et al. (2015) | Taiwan | Cohort | 55.9 | 665,330 | 56,901 | AF with age ≥ 20 years and no history of dementia for at least 1 year preceding study enrollment | Not specified | ICD codes | ICD codes | 15 | HR = 1.42 (1.39–1.44) |
| de Bruijn et al. (2015) | Netherlands | Cohort | 40.6 | 6,194 | 994 | Pts with proper identification of AF, proper follow-up | Not properly screened for dementia, had previously dementia, lack of follow-up, missing data on AF | EEG and MEANS | MMSE, GMSS, and DSM-III revised | 20 | HR = 1.33 (0.99–1.78) |
| Marzona et al. (2016) | Italy | Cohort | 47.48 | 1,627,631 | 134,837 | ≥65 yrs. pts with AF | Pts admitted to hospital for AF in the previous two years (2000–2001). Patients with incident dementia in the 2 years before entering the study | ICD codes | ICD codes | 10 | HR = 1.17 (1.12–1.23) |
| Singh-Manoux et al. (2017) | UK | Cohort | 84.3 | 10,308 | 912 | Pts with proper identification of AF and dementia, follow-up examination approximately every 5 years | No specified | ICD code and ECG | ICD code | 26.6 | HR = 1.87 (1.37–2.55) |
| Ding et al. (2018) | Sweden | Cohort | 37.1 | 2,685 | 399 | Pts aged >60 yrs. | Dementia at baseline and refused follow-up | ICD code | MMSE and DSM-III revised, NINDS-AIREN, NINCDS-ADRDA | 9 | HR = 1.88 (1.09–3.23) |
| Chen et al. (2018) | USA | Cohort | 44 | 22,924 | 1,157 | Pts aged >45 yrs., proper cognitive data | Dementia at baseline and refused follow-up | EEG and ICD code | DWRT, DSST, WFT, ARIC-NCS, MMSE, ICD code | 20 | HR = 1.23 (1.04–1.45) |
MEANS, Modular ECG Analysis System; ECG, Electrocardiography; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination; GMSS, Geriatric Mental State Schedule; DSM-III, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Third Edition Revised); ICD, International Classification of Diseases; CDR, Clinical Dementia Rating; NINDS-AIREN, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Association International pour la Recherch'e et l'Enseignement en Neurosciences; NINCDS-ADRDA, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke and the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association; DWRT, the Delayed Word Recall Test; DSST, the Digit Symbol Substitution Test; WFT, the Word Fluency Test; NR, Not reported; RCT, Randomized controlled trials; H&P, History and physical examination.