Table 1.
Patient demographics.
| Characteristics and demographics | Control group (n=99) | AFa group (n=79) | Significance (2-sided) | |||||
| Age (years), mean (SD) | 68 (15) | 77 (10) | <.001 | |||||
| BMI (kg/m2), mean (SD) | 26 (4) | 27 (4) | .16 | |||||
| Sex, n (%) | .09 | |||||||
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Male, n (%) | 40 (40) | 42 (53) |
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Female | 59 (60) | 37 (47) |
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| Medical history, n (%) |
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Earlier AF episode | 21 (21) | 63 (80) | <.001 | ||||
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Coronary heart disease | 27 (27) | 26 (33) | .41 | ||||
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Diabetes mellitus | 21 (21) | 19 (24) | .65 | ||||
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Hypertension | 57 (58) | 59 (75) | .02 | ||||
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Congestive heart failure | 12 (12) | 39 (49) | <.001 | ||||
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Previous heart surgery | 7 (7) | 15 (19) | .02 | ||||
| Medication, n (%) |
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Anticoagulation therapy | 26 (26) | 67 (84) | <.001 | ||||
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Beta blocker | 42 (42) | 56 (71) | <.001 | ||||
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Digoxin | 4 (4) | 13 (17) | .005 | ||||
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Antiarrhythmic medication | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | >.99 | ||||
| Symptoms prior to hospital admission (%) |
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Decrease in general condition | 56 (57) | 45 (57) | .96 | ||||
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Fatigue | 51 (52) | 47 (60) | .29 | ||||
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Palpitations | 23 (23) | 34 (43) | .005 | ||||
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Respiratory distress | 26 (26) | 39 (49) | <.001 | ||||
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Chest pain | 17 (17) | 18 (23) | .35 | ||||
aAF: atrial fibrillation.