A.06 Trends in hospital admission and in-hospital mortality for atrial fibrillation related stroke in Canada

Abstract

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke. In Canada, the contemporary burden of AF-related stroke is incompletely characterized. Our objective was to determine temporal trends in hospital admissions and in-hospital mortality for AF-related stroke in Canada from 2007 to 2015. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using Canadian national administrative data to identify admissions to hospital for stroke with comorbid AF between 2007 and 2015. We analyzed temporal trends in age- and sex-standardized proportion of admissions with comorbid AF and associated in-hospital mortality. Results: There were 222,100 admissions to hospital for ischemic (182,990) or hemorrhagic (39,110) stroke. The age-sex adjusted proportion of ischemic stroke admissions with comorbid AF increased from 16.2% to 20.5% (p for trend = 0.02) between 2007 and 2015, and was stable among hemorrhagic stroke. In-hospital mortality for ischemic stroke with comorbid AF decreased from 21.6% to 15.0% (p for trend = 0.001). Conclusions: Rates of hospital admission for ischemic stroke with comorbid AF have increased, while associated in-hospital mortality has decreased. These results identify AF as an important continued focus for stroke prevention. Our findings provide insight into current trends and highlight the need for continued focus on AF-related stroke.