Arrhythmias & electrophysiology
Long-term changes in frailty and incident atrial fibrillation, heart failure, coronary heart disease, and stroke: A prospective follow-up study
Main finding · Incident AFResult — go to the resultHazard ratio 1.95 CI 1.61–2.36Authors' conclusion
In middle-aged and elderly individuals, frailty remission or nonfrailty maintenance was associated with lower risk of AF, HF, and CHD compared with persistent frailty, regardless of previous frailty status and established risk factors.
Study context
- Population
- Middle-aged and elderly UK Biobank participants with frailty index (FI) data, free of atrial fibrillation (AF), heart failure (HF), coronary heart disease (CHD) or stroke at baseline and follow-up assessmentsMore than 50,000
- Exposure
- Long-term changes in frailty
- Outcome
- New-onset AF
- Follow-up
- Median 5.1 years from the final assessment
Main finding
Incident AF · median 5.1 years
Hazard ratio
1.95
CI 1.61–2.36
Sustained frail vs Maintained nonfrail
HR 1.95 (CI 1.61–2.36)
As reported in the abstract
- AF cases recorded
- 1729
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
HF, CHD and stroke
- Associations similar in HF and CHD; not significant in stroke
Original publication
Long-term changes in frailty and incident atrial fibrillation, heart failure, coronary heart disease, and stroke: A prospective follow-up study. Heart Rhythm. Published 9 January 2025. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it