Are Socioeconomic Factors Associated with Atrial Fibrillation Sex-dependent?

Can J Cardiol. 2024 Feb 28:S0828-282X(24)00181-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cjca.2024.02.016. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Atrial Fibrillation (AF), the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmia, poses a significant public health and economic burden. While socioeconomic factors like income and education have been implicated in AF incidence and outcomes, the potential sex-specific associations remained underexplored. This narrative review aimed to fill this gap by synthesizing existing literature on the sex-specific impact of socioeconomic factors on AF incidence, treatment and outcome. Among these socioeconomic factors, we identified income and education as the most frequently cited determinants.. Nevertheless, the magnitude and direction of these sex differences remained inconsistent across studies. The review uncovered that many studies did not include sex in the analysis when assessing the impact of socioeconomic factors on AF. We highlighted that the paucity of studies employing sex stratified reporting and sex interaction analyses, thereby hindering a deeper understanding of these relationships.

Publication types

  • Review