Table 1. Baseline Demographic, Socioeconomic, and Clinical Characteristics for All Patients With Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation .
| Variable | No. (%) | P value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate control group (n = 86 359) | AAD group (n = 19 362) | Catheter ablation group (n = 3500) | ||
| Age, median (IQR), y | 76 (69-83) | 74 (68-80) | 68 (60-73) | <.001 |
| Sexa | ||||
| Male | 43 217 (50.0) | 9863 (50.9) | 2105 (60.1) | <.001 |
| Female | 43 134 (49.9) | 9495 (49.0) | 1395 (39.9) | <.001 |
| Race/ethnicity | <.001 | |||
| Asian | 1729 (2.0) | 341 (1.8) | 73 (2.1) | |
| Black | 8136 (9.4) | 1826 (9.4) | 230 (6.6) | |
| Latinxb | 6460 (7.5) | 1428 (7.4) | 165 (4.7) | |
| White | 57 800 (66.9) | 13 179 (68.1) | 2544 (72.7) | |
| Unknown | 12 234 (14.2) | 2588 (13.4) | 488 (13.9) | |
| Region | <.001 | |||
| Midwest | 18 873 (21.9) | 4336 (22.4) | 802 (22.9) | |
| Northeast | 10 736 (12.4) | 1574 (8.1) | 327 (9.3) | |
| South | 36 562 (42.3) | 8982 (46.4) | 1586 (45.3) | |
| West | 19 953 (23.1) | 4425 (22.9) | 781 (22.3) | |
| Zip code–linked median household income, $ | <.001 | |||
| <50 000 | 26 878 (31.1) | 5779 (29.8) | 622 (17.8) | |
| 50 000-99 999 | 25 363 (29.4) | 5843 (30.2) | 1060 (30.3) | |
| ≥100 000 | 14 777 (17.1) | 3620 (18.7) | 1133 (32.4) | |
| Insurance type | <.001 | |||
| Commercial | 12 121 (14.0) | 3689 (19.1) | 1446 (41.3) | |
| Medicare Advantage | 74 238 (86.0) | 15 673 (80.9) | 2054 (58.7) | |
| Comorbidity | ||||
| Coronary artery disease | 42 976 (49.8) | 10 530 (54.4) | 1275 (36.4) | <.001 |
| Stroke/TIA | 16 132 (18.7) | 3056 (15.8) | 319 (9.1) | <.001 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 28 663 (33.2) | 6342 (32.8) | 531 (15.2) | <.001 |
| Dyslipidemia | 72 961 (84.5) | 16 560 (85.5) | 2757 (78.8) | <.001 |
| Obesity | 29 492 (34.2) | 7312 (37.8) | 1309 (37.4) | <.001 |
| Hypertension | 77 644 (89.9) | 17 530 (90.5) | 2776 (79.3) | <.001 |
| Diabetes | 37 030 (42.9) | 8365 (43.2) | 996 (28.5) | <.001 |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 32 095 (37.2) | 7318 (37.8) | 685 (19.6) | <.001 |
| HFrEF | 14 150 (16.4) | 5336 (27.6) | 557 (15.9) | <.001 |
| HFpEF | 14 891 (17.2) | 4882 (25.2) | 457 (13.1) | <.001 |
| HF hospitalizationc | 8927 (10.3) | 3738 (19.3) | 348 (9.9) | <.001 |
| No. of Elixhauser comorbidities | <.001 | |||
| 0-1 | 5075 (5.9) | 979 (5.1) | 534 (15.3) | |
| 2-3 | 13 703 (15.9) | 2771 (14.3) | 959 (27.4) | |
| 4-6 | 26 370 (30.5) | 6138 (31.7) | 1217 (34.8) | |
| ≥7 | 41 211 (47.7) | 9474 (48.9) | 790 (22.6) | |
| CHA2DS2-VASc score category | <.001 | |||
| Low risk: 0-1 | 4612 (5.3) | 1068 (5.5) | 726 (20.7) | |
| Medium risk: 2-5 | 54 693 (63.3) | 12 700 (65.6) | 2438 (69.7) | |
| High risk: >5 | 27 054 (31.3) | 5594 (28.9) | 336 (9.6) | |
| Anticoagulation use | ||||
| Warfarin sodium | 12 740 (14.8) | 3459 (17.9) | 396 (11.3) | <.001 |
| DOAC | 34 056 (39.4) | 11 263 (58.2) | 2819 (80.5) | <.001 |
| No anticoagulation | 41495 (48.0) | 5463 (28.2) | 438 (43.4) | <.001 |
| Medications | ||||
| β-Blocker | 54 877 (63.5) | 15 666 (80.9) | 2625 (75.0) | <.001 |
| Digoxin | 3614 (4.2) | 1009 (5.2) | 171 (4.9) | <.001 |
| Nondihydropyridine calcium channel blocker | 14 105 (16.3) | 3952 (20.4) | 978 (27.9) | <.001 |
| No. of cardiology visits per 12 mo | <.001 | |||
| 0 | 16 599 (19.2) | 2056 (10.6) | 128 (3.7) | |
| 1 | 34 690 (40.2) | 7244 (37.4) | 986 (28.2) | |
| >1 | 35 070 (40.6) | 10 062 (52.0) | 2386 (68.2) | |
Abbreviations: AAD, antiarrhythmic drug; CHA2DS2-VASc score, congestive heart failure, hypertension, age 75 years or older (2 points), diabetes, history of stroke, transient ischemic attack, or systemic thromboembolism (2 points), vascular disease, age 65 to 74 years, and female sex; DOAC, direct oral anticoagulant; HF, heart failure; HFpEF, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction; HFrEF, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction; IQR, interquartile range; TIA, transient ischemic attack.
a
In 12 patients, sex was missing or unknown (8 in the rate control group and 4 in the AAD group).
b
Latinx is a gender-neutral term describing persons of Latin American origin or descent.
c
Within the past 12 months.