title: Gender and geographic differences in CAD risk factors and CHADS2 scores in atrial fibrillation patients.
abstract: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a cardiac arrhythmia associated with a wide range of other co-morbid medical conditions. The state of West Virginia has a higher prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and CAD risk factors compared to the national average. We hypothesized that West Virginians with atrial fibrillation would also have a higher prevalence of CAD risk factors and higher CHADS2 stroke risk scores. This is particularly important since Louisiana is the only high CAD risk southern state included in the original verification of the CHADS2 risk scoring system (i.e. California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, and Vermont). Accordingly, we performed a retrospective analysis of the association between AF and CAD, CAD risk factors and CHADS2 scores in a cohort of men and women in the West Virginia University Hospital population. We report a greater positive association between AF and hypertension, diabetes mellitus and obesity than the national average. AF was seen more commonly among men. But, CHADS2 scores were higher among women as a result of a higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus. This study indicates that AF is associated with a greater prevalence of CAD risk factors and higher CHADS2 scores among West Virginians in comparison with the rest of the nation.
authors.forename: Ravindra
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bhardwaj
authors.forename: Puneet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Mitchell S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Finkel
authors.forename: Sumesh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arham
authors.forename: Tooba
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kazmi
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Beto
authors.forename: Wissam
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gharib
authors.forename: Bradford E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Warden
authors.forename: Abnash C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Jain
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014903:West Virginia / Q000453:epidemiology