PREDICTOR OF ENHANCED MORTALITY IN PATIENTS WITH MULTIMORBIDITY AND ATRIAL FIBRILLATION IN AN ACUTE HOSPITAL SETTING

BACKGROUND: Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) admitted to hospital commonly have comorbidities. Few studies have attempted to determine factors prognostic of mortality in hospitalised AF patients with multimorbidity. AIM: To identify factors associated with mortality in hospitalised AF patients. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: Patients with multimorbidity (≥2 chronic diseases), with or without AF, discharged from Lugo hospital (Spain) between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2015. Data were extracted from hospital medical records. RESULTS: Of 74 220 patients (170 978 hospitalisations), 52 939 had multimorbidity (14 181 had AF; 38 758 no AF) and were included in our study. Patients with AF were older [mean ± standard deviation (SD) 78.6 ± 10.0 vs. 71.9 ± 14.2 years] and had a higher mortality rate (27.1% vs 20.5%) than those without AF. Gender (female), age, stroke and congestive heart failure (CHF), but not AF, were independently associated with mortality. AF significantly increased the mortality risk in women [relative risk (RR) 1.091; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.021-1.165; P = 0.010] and in those aged >80 years (RR 1.153; 95% CI, 1.1-1.2; P < 0.001). CHF independently increased the risk of mortality across all age groups (RR 1.496; 95% CI, 1.422-1.574; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Hospitalised patients with AF have a higher mortality rate than those without AF. The prognostic significance of AF changes with age and gender while CHF is associated with the greatest risk of death.