Abstract 10079: Socioeconomic Status and the Development of Atrial Fibrillation in Hispanics, African Americans and non-Hispanic Whites

Abstract

Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Despite having a higher burden of traditional AF risk factors, African American and Hispanic minorities have a lower incidence of AF when compared to non-Hispanic Whites, referred to as the “racial paradox.” Hypothesis: We investigated if socioeconomic status (SES) could be an explanatory factor for the “racial paradox.” Methods: An ECG/EMR database from a tertiary-care center in New York State was interrogated for individuals free of AF for development of subsequent AF from 2000-2013. SES was assessed per zip code via a log composite of six measures Z-scored to the New York State average (income; value of housing unit; percentage of receiving interest/dividend/rental income; education; percentage completed college; individuals in professional positions). SES was reclassified into decile groups (1 lowest and 10 highest). The Log-Rank test was used to determine difference in survival times to develop AF by race/ethnicity stratified by SES decile. Cox regression analysis controlling for all baseline differences was used to estimate the independent predictive ability of SES for AF. P-trend was calculated by race/ethnicity to determine if there was a trend by SES decile to develop AF. Results: We identified 48,631 persons (43% Hispanic, 37% African Americans and 20% non-Hispanic White, mean age 59 years, mean follow-up of 3.2 years) of which 4,556 AF cases occurred. Hispanics and African Americans had lower AF risk than Whites in all SES deciles (p-value < 0.001 by Log Rank Test). Higher SES was borderline associated with lower AF risk (HR=0.990, 95% CI 0.980-1.001, p=0.061). P-trend analysis was not significant by any race/ethnic group by SES deciles for AF (Figure 1). Conclusions: Our study suggests that non-Hispanic Whites are at higher risk for AF compared to non-Whites, and this is independent of socioeconomic status.