University of Tasmania
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Improving knowledge and early detection of atrial fibrillation through a community-based opportunistic screening program: what's your beat?

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posted on 2023-05-21, 08:09 authored by Jatau Abubakar, I, Luke BereznickiLuke Bereznicki, Barbara Wimmer, Woldesellassie BezabheWoldesellassie Bezabhe, Gregory PetersonGregory Peterson
A community-based opportunistic screening program was implemented to (i) improve atrial fibrillation (AF) awareness and detection and (ii) assess the performance of the Microlife WatchBP Home A for detecting AF when used in community screening. Screening sessions were conducted among people aged ≥ 65 years with no history of AF at public events across Tasmania, Australia. Participants with positive screening results were referred to their general medical practitioner for assessment. The device's performance was assessed using the positive predictive value. A total of 1704 eligible participants were screened at 79 sessions. Of these people, 50 (2.9%) had a positive screening result. The device correctly identified AF in 22 (46.8%) participants with positive results. Among those with subsequently confirmed AF, 6 (27.3%) had a history of AF but were not aware of the diagnosis, and 16 (72.7%) were identified to have previously undiagnosed AF, with an overall prevalence of 0.9% (95% CI, 0.58 to 1.52). Oral anticoagulation therapy was initiated in 12 (87.5%) eligible participants. The positive predictive value of the device was 46.8% (95% CI, 33.3 to 60.7). Given the relatively low performance of the device, its application in community-based opportunistic screening programs for AF is unlikely to be cost-effective.

Funding

Tasmanian Community Fund

History

Publication title

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Volume

19

Issue

11

Article number

6860

Number

6860

Pagination

1-12

ISSN

1661-7827

Department/School

School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology

Publisher

Switzerland

Place of publication

MDPI AG

Rights statement

© 2022 The authors. This article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Diagnosis of human diseases and conditions; Health education and promotion

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