How this fits in

Atrial fibrillation (AF) increases the risk of stroke and may be asymptomatic. Screening of people aged ≥65 years in the community with a systematic approach has previously resulted in increased detection of AF. The single electrocardiograph device, MyDiagnostick, has good diagnostic accuracy and could be used for AF screening. In this study, opportunistic screening of those aged ≥65 years during usual care seems not to result in a higher yield of AF detection than usual primary care. Detection of AF within usual primary care including pulse palpation seems to have improved in recent years. In a previous UK study (2002), 1.0% were newly diagnosed with AF in usual primary care in patients aged ≥65 years during 1 year, whereas this was 1.4% in the present study. If screening for AF is left to the discretion of a GP, it is mainly patients with high levels of comorbidity who are investigated.