Smoking and risk of atrial fibrillation in the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Whether smoking increases the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) remains debatable due to inconsistent reports.

Methods

We examined the association between smoking and incident AF in 11,047 participants from the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study, one of the largest biracial, population-based cohort studies in the USA. Baseline (2003-2007) cigarette smoking status and amount (pack-years) were self-reported. Incident AF was determined by electrocardiography and history of a prior physician diagnosis at a follow-up examination conducted after a median of 10.6 years.

Results

During follow-up, 954 incident AF cases were identified; 9.5% in smokers vs. 7.8% in non-smokers; p<0.001. In a model adjusted for socio-demographics, sm

SUBMITTER: Imtiaz Ahmad M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5735021 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature