• Surendra Prasad Shah, Ram Pratap Sah, Sagar Panthi, Rakesh Kumar Shah, Rochana Acharya, Durga Neupane, Reecha Puri, Sulaksha Poudel, and Lila Bahadur Basnet.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Nobel Medical College Teaching Hospital, Biratnagar, Morang, Nepal.
• JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc. 2022 Sep 1; 60 (253): 756760756-760.

IntroductionAtrial fibrillation is one of the commonest arrhythmias with an overall prevalence estimated to be 0.4-1% in the general population. The objective of this study was to find out the prevalence of atrial fibrillation among patients admitted to the Department of Internal Medicine in a tertiary care centre.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among patients admitted to the Department of Internal Medicine of a tertiary care centre from 01 March 2021 to 01 March 2022. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: IRC-478/2021). Convenience sampling method was used. Data were collected from the hospital records using a semi-structured study proforma including demography, clinical presentation, laboratory investigations, electrocardiogram, 2-dimension echocardiography, and CHA2DS2VASc score. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated.ResultsAmong 27,980 patients, atrial fibrillation was found in 185 (0.66%) (0.58-0.77, 95% Confidence Interval). Among them 66 (35.67%) were in the age group of 61-70 years and 97 (52.43%) were females. Dyspnea was present in 149 (80.54%), palpitation in 137 (74.05%) and pedal edema in 117 (63.27%). Valvular atrial fibrillation was seen in 101 (54.59%) and non-valvular atrial fibrillation was seen in 84 (45.41%) patients.ConclusionsThe prevalence of atrial fibrillation was found to be similar when compared to other studies conducted in similar settings.

11 keywords...

hide…