title: Prevalence of atrial fibrillation in adults participating in a large-scale voluntary screening programme in Belgium.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia in clinical practice. AF fulfils many of the criteria for a screening programme. No data about the prevalence of AF in non-hospitalized patients are available in Belgium. The aim of the study was to assess feasibility and effectiveness of a nationwide-organized voluntary screening programme in the general population in Belgium.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 13.564 participants were screened, of whom 10,758 were older than 40 years (GSP group). Participants filled in stroke risk stratification questionnaires (CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc). A one-lead electrocardiogram was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  228 participants had AF at the time of screening (AF group), with 125 women and 103 men (i.e., 1.9% and 2.6% of total women and men), representing a prevalence of 2.2% (95% CI 1.3% and 3.0%) of the screened population. Age of the AF group was 67 +/- 12 y (range 40-87 y). Using the CHADS2-score, 58% of participants with a positive AF screening had a high risk score, and 21% had an intermediate risk score. Using the CHA2DS2-VASc-score, 72% of the participants had a high risk score, and 21% had an intermediate risk score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AF was present in 2.2% of the respondents. At least 60% of AF group had an increased risk for thrombo-embolism. Although substantial methodological issues limit the exact interpretation of these results, the present study shows that a volunatry screening programme with a simple screening protocol is able to detect an important number of patients with previously undetected AF.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University Hasselt, Diepenbeek, Belgium. Neree.claes@uhasselt.be
authors.forename: Neree
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Claes
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van Laethem
authors.forename: Marnix
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goethals
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Goethals
authors.forename: Georges
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mairesse
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schwagten
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nuyens
authors.forename: Ward
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schrooten
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vijgen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires