THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL CRISIS ON THE PREVALENCE OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION IN THE GREEK POPULATION
D. Papadimitriou, A. Samentzas, D. Papasaikas, K. Emmanouil, A. Trikas
Cardiology department, Elpis General Hospital, Athens, Greece
Introduction:: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) during the Greek financial crisis.
Methods: Two time periods were studied regarding the prevalence of AF in the patients of the Cardiology Department of “ELPIS” General Hospital. (2003 – 2007: “pre-crisis period” and 2008 – 2012: “crisis period”)
Results: During the pre-crisis period, the 15.7% of male AF patients were under 60 years old and 11.9% presented with a firstly diagnosed AF. During the crisis period, the percentage of male AF admissions increased (18%), 27% of whom were under 60 years old and 16.7% presented with firstly diagnosed AF. During the pre-crisis period, 5.5% of female patients with AF were uninsured and 16.7% presented with first diagnosed AF. During the crisis-period, the female AF admissions were increased (27.2%), as well as the percentage of uninsured and firstly diagnosed AF patients (12.7% and 25.5% respectively).
Conclusions: The crisis period correlated with increased admissions for AF, while certain subgroups were more severely affected (females, younger males, uninsured females, patients presenting with firstly diagnosed AF).
PRE-CRISIS PERIOD CRISIS PERIOD
|
|
Male
|
Female
|
Male
|
Female
|
P
|
|
Hospitalized
|
1903
|
1517
|
2015
|
1845
|
|
|
AF
|
286(15%)*
|
306(20%)*
|
364(18%)*
|
502(27.2%)*
|
P<0.001 for female
|
|
<60 years old
|
45(15.7%)†
|
57(18.6%)†
|
98(27%)†
|
132(26.3%)†
|
P<0.01 for male
|
|
Uninsured
|
21(7.3%)†
|
17(5.5%)†
|
56(15.4%)†
|
64(12.7%)†
|
P<0.001 for both sexes
|
|
Firstly diagnosed AF
|
34(11.9%)†
|
51(16.7%)†
|
78(16.7%)†
|
128(25.5%)†
|
P<0.05 for both sexes
|
*Percentage of AF patients on the total admissions
†Percentage of each subgroup on the total of AF patients
Level of statistical significance P< 0.05
