Baseline characteristics of the study sample with complete baseline CHARGE-AF data
| All (n=111 475) | AF during follow-up (n=5264) | No AF during follow-up (n=106 211) | P value for difference* | |
| Age, years | 65.5±11.4 | 73.1±9.4 | 65.2±11.4 | <0.001 |
| Female | 58 549 (52.5%) | 2572 (48.9%) | 55 977 (52.7%) | <0.001 |
| SBP, mm Hg | 137.3±16.3 | 139.5±17.3 | 137.2±16.2 | <0.001 |
| DBP, mm Hg | 80.5±10.5 | 78.8±10.8 | 80.6±10.5 | <0.001 |
| Height, cm | 170.0±9.9 | 170.3±9.9 | 170.0±9.9 | 0.01 |
| Weight, kg | 82.5±16.8 | 83.8±17.2 | 82.4±16.8 | <0.001 |
| Antihypertensive medication | 79 057 (70.9) | 4494 (85.4) | 74 563 (70.2) | <0.001 |
| Hypertension | 74 149 (66.5) | 3864 (73.4) | 70 285 (66.2) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 47 557 (42.7) | 2514 (47.8) | 45 043 (42.4) | <0.001 |
| Heart failure | 4693 (4.2) | 562 (10.7) | 4131 (3.9) | <0.001 |
| Myocardial infarction | 5404 (4.9) | 391 (7.4) | 5013 (4.7) | <0.001 |
| Current smoking | 15 774 (14.2) | 600 (11.4) | 15 174 (14.3) | <0.001 |
| Stroke | 7462 (6.7) | 472 (9.0) | 6990 (6.6) | <0.001 |
| TIA | 3339 (3.0) | 224 (4.3) | 3115 (2.9) | <0.001 |
| Pulmonary embolism | 506 (0.5) | 31 (0.6) | 475 (0.4) | 0.14 |
| Angina pectoris | 10 167 (9.1) | 750 (14.3) | 9417 (8.9) | <0.001 |
| CHA2DS2-VASc | 3 (IQR 2–4) | 4 (IQR 3–5) | 3 (IQR 2–4) | <0.001 |
| CHA2DS2-VASc≥2 | 88 538 (79.4) | 4866 (92.4) | 83 672 (78.8) | <0.001 |
| Asthma | 13 262 (11.9) | 652 (12.4) | 12 610 (11.9) | 0.26 |
| COPD | 12 523 (11.2) | 879 (16.7) | 11 644 (11.0) | <0.001 |
| Atherosclerosis | 6367 (5.7) | 416 (7.9) | 5951 (5.6) | <0.001 |
| Hypercholesterolaemia | 19 427 (17.4) | 694 (13.2) | 18 733 (17.6) | <0.001 |
| Gout | 7639 (6.9) | 589 (11.2) | 7050 (6.6) | <0.001 |
| Enrolled in care programme | ||||
| Asthma | 1846 (1.7) | 77 (1.5) | 1769 (1.7) | 0.26 |
| COPD | 4777 (4.3) | 335 (6.4) | 4442 (4.2) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 35 640 (32.0) | 1943 (36.9) | 33 697 (31.7) | <0.001 |
| Any care programme | 40 468 (36.3) | 2212 (42.0) | 38 256 (36.0) | <0.001 |
Data are number (percentage), mean±SD or median (IQR).
*Difference between those with and without AF during follow-up.
AF, atrial fibrillation; CHA2DS2-VASc, congestive heart failure, hypertension, age, diabetes and previous stroke or transient ischaemic attack, vascular disease and female sex category; CHARGE-AF, Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology-atrial fibrillation; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; IQR, interquartile range; SBP, systolic blood pressure; TIA, transient ischaemic attack.