Arrhythmias in subjects with and without a history of palpitations: the Tromsø Study.
The study looked at palpitations in relation to the prevalence of arrhythmia, as assessed by 24-h ambulatory electrocardiography (ECG) in a population sample. The subjects were randomly drawn from among those involved in a cardiovascular survey. Forty-three of those who answered 'Yes' and 54 of those who answered 'No' (84% of those eligible) to the following question, participated: 'Have you observed sudden changes in your heart rate or heart rhythm during the preceding year?' In both groups mean age was 49 years and 58% were men. There was no relationship between recorded arrhythmia and perceived palpitations during monitoring. The prevalence of at least one arrhythmic episode (ventricular or supraventricular arrhythmia or pauses > = 1.5 s) was significantly higher in those who had perceived palpitations during the previous year (98%) than in those who had not (74%) (P < 0.0014). Through a simple question about palpitations during the preceding year we were able to identify significantly a population with true arrhythmias. However, the question could not be used to define a population entirely without arrhythmia. The high prevalence of arrhythmia in subjects without reported palpitations indicates that it is a normal finding which alone should not demand further clinical investigations.
Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Norway.
M L
ML
Løchen
T
T
Snaprud
W
W
Zhang
K
K
Rasmussen
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity