title: Comparable ascertainment of newly-diagnosed atrial fibrillation using active cohort follow-up versus surveillance of centers for medicare and medicaid services in the atherosclerosis risk in communities study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Increasingly, epidemiologic studies use administrative data to identify atrial fibrillation (AF). Capture of incident AF is not well documented. We examined incidence rates and concordance of AF diagnosis based on active cohort follow-up versus surveillance of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities cohort participants without prevalent AF enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare, with inpatient and outpatient coverage, for at least 12 continuous months between 1991 and 2009 were included. In active Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study follow-up, annual telephone calls captured hospitalizations and deaths with incident AF diagnosis codes. For Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data, incident AF was defined by billed inpatient and outpatient diagnoses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 10,134 eligible cohort participants, 738 developed AF according to both Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data; an additional 93 and 288 incident cases were identified using only Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data, respectively. Incidence rates per 1,000 person-years were 10.8 (95% confidence interval: 10.1-11.6) and 13.6 (95% confidence interval: 12.8-14.4) in Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, respectively; agreement was 96%; kappa was 0.77 (95% confidence interval: 0.75-0.80). Earlier AF ascertainment by one system versus the other was not associated with any cardiovascular disease risk factors, after accounting for sociodemographic factors. Additional Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services events did not alter observed associations between risk factors and AF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Among fee-for-service enrollees, AF incidence rates were slightly lower for active cohort follow-up than for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services surveillance, because the latter included outpatient atrial fibrillation. Concordance was high and combining the two approaches could provide a more complete picture of newly-diagnosed AF.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lindsay G S
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Bengtson
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kucharska-Newton
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Wruck
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Laura R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Loehr
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors.forename: Aaron R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Folsom
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lin Y
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Wayne D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Rosamond
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duval
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors.forename: Pamela L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Lutsey
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Sally C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Stearns
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sueta
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine and Division of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Hsin-Chieh
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University of Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ervin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alonso
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000150:complications*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014487:Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance; D044469:Racial Groups; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
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