The effect of a case-finding app on the detection rate of atrial fibrillation compared with opportunistic screening in primary care patients: protocol for a cluster randomized trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Atrial fibrillation is a cardiac arrhythmia commonly encountered in a primary care setting. Current screening is limited to pulse palpation and ECG confirmation when an irregular pulse is found. Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation will, however, still be difficult to pick up. With the advent of smartphones, screening could be more cost-efficient by making use of simple applications, lowering the need for intensive screening to discover (paroxysmal) atrial fibrillation.

Methods/design

This cluster randomized trial will examine the effect of using a smartphone-based application such as FibriCheck® on the detection rate of atrial fibrillation in a Flemish general practice population. This study will be conducted in 22 primary care practices across the Flanders region of B

SUBMITTER: Beerten SG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8351454 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature