Risk of dementia in patients with atrial fibrillation: Short versus long follow‐up. A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Background No previous meta‐analyses have compared the risk of dementia, due to an underlying atrial fibrillation (AF), in the short‐term versus the long‐term period. Aim To perform an update meta‐analysis of studies examining the association between AF and dementia and the relative impact of follow‐up period. Methods Data were obtained searching MEDLINE and Scopus for all investigations published between 1 January 2000 and March 1, 2021 reporting the risk of dementia in AF patients. The following MeSH terms were used for the search: “Atrial Fibrillation” AND “Dementia” OR “Alzheimer’s disease”. From each study, the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) with the related 95% confidence interval (CI) was pooled using a random effect model. Results The analysis was carried out on 18 studies involving 3.559.349 subjects, of which 902.741 (25.3%) developed dementia during follow‐up. A random effect model revealed an aHR of 1.40 (95% CI: 1.27–1.54, p
Key Points The presence of atrial fibrillation increased the risk of developing dementia by 40%The presence of atrial fibrillation increased the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 40%The risk of developing dementia in patients with atrial fibrillation appears to be inversely related to the length of follow‐up