The Chinese burden of atrial fibrillation review of atrial fibrillation studies in China

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common heart rate disorders, but most relevant studies are mainly focused on Europe and The United States, while information about AF in the Chinese population is scarce. The purpose of this study was to provide a review of the literature on atrial fibrillation in China. METHODS: A literature search (Medline 2001–2021) identified studies reporting the prevalence or incidence of AF, risk factors for AF, comorbidities of AF, and use of antithrombotic therapy in China. This report focuses on descriptive analytical data. RESULTS: Studies reported a wide variation in the prevalence of AF, with a range of community‐based and hospital‐based AF rates (from 0.49% to 8.8% and 4.4% to 35.7%). Aspirin and warfarin use was found to be particularly low in community‐based studies in China, and warfarin and amiodarone use was higher in hospital‐based studies than in other countries. Stroke is the most common complication of atrial fibrillation. CONCLUSIONS: More high‐quality studies are needed to improve our understanding of the burden of atrial fibrillation in China. Efforts should be made to improve community delivery and monitoring of antithrombotic therapy after AF. Due to China's large population, the number of patients with untreated AF and the risk of accompanying complications can be high, so the impact on healthcare resources can be significant.