title: Prevalence, incidence and lifetime risk of atrial fibrillation: the Rotterdam study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to investigate the prevalence and incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in a large European population-based study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study is part of the Rotterdam study, a population-based prospective cohort study among subjects aged 55 years and above. The prevalence at baseline was assessed in 6808 participants. Incidence of AF was investigated during a mean follow-up period of 6.9 years in 6432 persons. We identified 376 prevalent and 437 incident cases. Overall prevalence was 5.5%, rising from 0.7% in the age group 55-59 years to 17.8% in those aged 85 years and above. The overall incidence rate was 9.9/1000 person-years. The incidence rate in the age group 55-59 years was 1.1/1000 person-years, rose to 20.7/1000 person-years in the age group 80-84 years and stabilized in those aged 85 years and above. Prevalence and incidence were higher in men than in women. The lifetime risk to develop AF at the age of 55 years was 23.8% in men and 22.2% in women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this prospective study in a European population, the prevalence and incidence of AF increased with age and were higher in men than in women. The high lifetime risk to develop AF was similar to North American epidemiological data.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus Medical Center, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heeringa
authors.forename: Deirdre A M
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: van der Kuip
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hofman
authors.forename: Jan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kors
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van Herpen
authors.forename: Bruno H Ch
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Stricker
authors.forename: Theo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stijnen
authors.forename: Gregory Y H
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Lip
authors.forename: Jacqueline C M
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Witteman
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D017678:Sex Distribution