description
- Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an increasingly common arrhythmia in the aging European population. Its prevalence will more than double by the year 2050 affecting 5% of EU women and men aged ≥65 years. AF carries a high risk of stroke, heart failure, and dementia, which result in a significant loss of quality-adjusted life years and high mortality. The EU guiding principles for active aging (no. 17468/12) recommend disease prevention to maximise healthy life, and early detection of AF is recommended by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Nonetheless, to date, a risked-based screening strategy is lacking. AFFECT-EU’s major goal is the development of a risk-based, accurate, and ready for implementation AF screening algorithm, using digital devices, for early AF detection in the community. For this objective we will (1) Develop a risk-based AF screening algorithm, by combining the available information from the largest outcome trials (Danish LOOP, STROKESTOP, SAFER) and multiple screening studies across Europe (Ntotal>100,000) including health modifiers and biomarkers; (2) Refine the stratification of high-risk populations in a personalised approach through exploration of distinct digital screening methods and multiple health determinants in deeply-phenotyped population cohorts; (3) Validate the AFFECT-EU risked-based screening recommendations in a meta-analysis of European and world-wide studies; (4) Demonstrate cost benefits and acceptability of AF screening across different European healthcare systems; (5) Identify the AF screening potential to be taken up by differing healthcare systems; (6) Foster the dissemination of results and adoption of the risked-based AF screening algorithm in the ESC (an AFFECT-EU partner) guidelines. AFFECT-EU will develop the first targeted, risk-based AF screening algorithm, and thus contribute to the reduction of AF-related health inequities, morbidity and mortality in Europe.