Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major risk factor for stroke, but it often remains undiagnosed. Timely diagnosis of AF and resulting anticoagulation treatment could reduce the incidence of stroke.

Our analysis suggests that in the USA, screening patients aged > 75 years for atrial fibrillation with an extended screening strategy followed by oral anticoagulation treatment reduces stroke incidence for a slightly higher bleeding rate.

The extended screening strategy has an incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year gained over a no systematic screening strategy that is acceptable under conventional willingness-to-pay thresholds used for cost-effectiveness analyses in the USA.