Table 1.

Characteristics at the time of atrial fibrillation diagnosis by urban/rural classification for the entire cohort, Medicare, 2011–2016

Characteristic	Urban/rural classification
	Urban (n = 369,357)	Large rural (n = 38,167)	Small rural (n = 21,934)	Isolated rural (n = 17,794)
Age, years	79.0 ± 8.4	78.6 ± 8.2	78.7 ± 8.1	78.7 ± 8.2
Female	55	56	56	54
White race	84	92	92	94
Black race	7	4	4	2
Other race	9	4	3	3
CHA2DS2-VASC score	5.0 ± 1.9	4.8 ± 1.8	4.9 ± 1.8	4.8 ± 1.8
HAS-BLED score	3.1 ± 1.2	3.0 ± 1.1	3.0 ± 1.1	2.9 ± 1.1
Cardiology involvement	84	77	74	74
Received influenza vaccine	53	50	43	40
Comorbidities
Hypertension	88	88	88	87
Diabetes	42	39	40	39
Myocardial infarction	12	14	15	14
Heart failure	36	36	38	37
Ischemic stroke/TIA	35	31	31	30
Peripheral artery disease	36	31	32	30
Hemorrhagic stroke	2	2	2	2
Dementia	9	7	7	6
Renal disease	26	24	24	24
Chronic pulmonary disease	31	35	36	35
Liver disease	10	8	7	7
Hematological disorders	26	23	22	20
Gastrointestinal bleed	35	34	33	32
Other bleed	48	42	43	41
Malignancy	21	19	18	19
Metastatic cancer	4	4	3	4
Depression	21	21	21	20
Alcohol abuse	1	1	1	1
Medications
Digoxin	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4
Clopidogrel	14	15	15	14
Antiplatelet agents	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.5
ACE inhibitors	26	29	29	29
Angiotensin-receptor blockers	15	14	13	12
β-blockers	34	37	38	38
Calcium channel blockers	28	28	28	26
Anti-arrhythmic agents	2	2	2	3
Statins	41	41	41	41
Diabetes medications	6	7	7	7
Oral anticoagulants
Warfarin	23	26	28	29
Dabigatran	4	4	4	4
Rivaroxaban	10	9	9	8
Apixaban	10	9	9	8

Data are presented as percentages or mean ± standard deviation

ACE angiotensin-converting enzyme, CHA₂DS₂-VASC congestive heart failure, hypertension, age (1 point for age 65–74; 2 points for ≥75 years), diabetes, prior stroke or TIA (2 points), vascular disease, and female sex, HAS-BLED hypertension, abnormal renal/liver function, stroke, bleeding history or predisposition, elderly (age >65 years), drugs/alcohol concomitantly, TIA transient ischemic attack