Research question: What percentage of newly diagnosed AF patients were asymptomatic physician-initiated (patient did not present for AF-related symptoms) versus patient-initiated (presented due to AF-related symptoms or complications) in a routine primary care database with patients from Amsterdam, North Holland and Almere?

Description: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia in older persons, associated with increased risk of stroke and mortality. Timely detection is necessary to initiate prophylactic treatment and lifestyle modification. Approximately half of AF cases are diagnosed in primary care in NL. Some of these diagnoses were in patients who were asymptomatic,  but in whom the GP detected an irregular pulse, after which AF was diagnosed. Screening for unknown, 'new' AF could be  especially relevant in this patient group, compared to those who arrived at the GP with symptoms. In this project, the student will use HIS data from AWH-ANHA to adjudicate whether new AF diagnoses were symptomatic (patient-initiated) or asymptomatic (physician-initiated AF diagnosis). The student will investigate differences between these two AF subtypes, and whether certain variables predict physician-initiated AF (analogous to asymptomatic screening).

For more information, contact Dr. Jelle Himmelreich: [email protected]