UMMS Affiliation
Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
Publication Date
2021-09-03
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Cardiology | Cardiovascular Diseases | Epidemiology
Abstract
Background
Atrial fibrillation (AF) screening is endorsed by certain guidelines for individuals aged > /=65 years. Yet many AF screening strategies exist, including the use of wrist-worn wearable devices, and their comparative effectiveness is not well-understood.
Methods and Results
We developed a decision-analytic model simulating 50 million individuals with an age, sex, and comorbidity profile matching the United States population aged > /=65 years (ie, with a guideline-based AF screening indication). We modeled no screening, in addition to 45 distinct AF screening strategies (comprising different modalities and screening intervals), each initiated at a clinical encounter. The primary effectiveness measure was quality-adjusted life-years, with incident stroke and major bleeding as secondary measures. We defined continuous or nearly continuous modalities as those capable of monitoring beyond a single time-point (eg, patch monitor), and discrete modalities as those capable of only instantaneous AF detection (eg, 12-lead ECG). In total, 10 AF screening strategies were effective compared with no screening (300-1500 quality-adjusted life-years gained/100 000 individuals screened). Nine (90%) effective strategies involved use of a continuous or nearly continuous modality such as patch monitor or wrist-worn wearable device, whereas 1 (10%) relied on discrete modalities alone. Effective strategies reduced stroke incidence (number needed to screen to prevent a stroke: 3087-4445) but increased major bleeding (number needed to screen to cause a major bleed: 1815-4049) and intracranial hemorrhage (number needed to screen to cause intracranial hemorrhage: 7693-16 950). The test specificity was a highly influential model parameter on screening effectiveness.
Conclusions
When modeled from a clinician-directed perspective, the comparative effectiveness of population-based AF screening varies substantially upon the specific strategy used. Future screening interventions and guidelines should consider the relative effectiveness of specific AF screening strategies.
Keywords
atrial fibrillation, cost‐effectiveness, microsimulation, screening
Rights and Permissions
Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley. This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
DOI of Published Version
10.1161/JAHA.120.020330
Source
Khurshid S, Chen W, Singer DE, Atlas SJ, Ashburner JM, Choi JG, Hur C, Ellinor PT, McManus DD, Chhatwal J, Lubitz SA. Comparative Clinical Effectiveness of Population-Based Atrial Fibrillation Screening Using Contemporary Modalities: A Decision-Analytic Model. J Am Heart Assoc. 2021 Sep 21;10(18):e020330. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.120.020330. Epub 2021 Sep 3. PMID: 34476979; PMCID: PMC8649502. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Journal of the American Heart Association
Related Resources
PubMed ID
34476979
Repository Citation
Khurshid S, Chen W, Singer DE, Atlas SJ, Ashburner JM, Choi JG, Hur C, Ellinor PT, McManus DD, Chhatwal J, Lubitz SA. (2021). Comparative Clinical Effectiveness of Population-Based Atrial Fibrillation Screening Using Contemporary Modalities: A Decision-Analytic Model. Open Access Publications by UMass Chan Authors. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.120.020330. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/4954
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.