Table 2.
Medical history, clinical characteristics, and preferred sleeping positions.
| Positional AF | Nocturnal AF | Non-nocturnal /non-positional AF | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patients, n | 21 | 51 | 22 | |
| Age, years | 62 ± 11 | 60 ± 12 | 64 ± 10 | |
| Female sex, n (%) | 7 (33.3) | 17 (33.3) | 5 (22.7) | |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 28.7 [4.2]* | 27.5 [5.4] | 25.4 [5.2] | |
| AF duration, months | 48 [67] | 24 [52] | 33 [36] | |
| History of | Arterial hypertension, n (%) | 7 (33.3) | 15 (29.4) | 8 (36.4) |
| Coronary artery disease, n (%) | 2 (9.5) | 2 (3.9) | 2 (9.1) | |
| Transient ischemic attack/cerebral vascular apoplexy, n (%) | 3 (14.3) | 3 (5.9) | 1 (4.6) | |
| Diabetes mellitus, n (%) | 1 (4.8) | 3 (5.9) | 0 (0) | |
| Heart failure, n (%) | 1 (4.8) | 1 (2.0) | 1 (4.6) | |
| Thromboembolic disease, n (%) | 2 (9.5) | 2 (3.9) | 1 (4.6) | |
| Preferred sleeping position | Supine position, n (%) | 6 (28.6) | 15 (29.4) | 8 (36.4) |
| Prone position, n (%) | 2 (9.5) | 6 (11.8) | 3 (13.6) | |
| Left lateral position, n (%) | 11 (52.4) | 30 (58.8) | 12 (54.6) | |
| Right lateral position, n (%) | 10 (47.6) | 27 (52.9) | 12 (54.6) | |
| Sitting, n (%) | 0 (0) | 1 (2.0) | 0 (0) | |
Patients with positional AF (n = 21) were more overweight compared to patients without self-reported nocturnal/positional AF (n = 22; asterisk: p = 0.025) but resembled otherwise these patients. Arterial hypertension was a frequently reported comorbidity in all patient groups. The preferred sleeping positions did not differ between the three groups of paroxysmal AF patients. Lateral recumbence during sleeping was preferred in all groups. Several patients stated multiple preferred sleeping positions. Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation or median (interquartile range) dependent on normality tested with a Shapiro–Wilk’s test. An ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis analysis was applied to test for differences between the three patient groups. Statistical significance marked with asterisk.