Type 1 diabetes independent risk factor for atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation and diabetes are common pathological conditions in cardiology. Also, their association is frequent; about 15% of diabetes patients have atrial fibrillation, and approx 30% of AF cases occur in diabetes patients.

Diabetes is an independent risk factor for AF, and co-existing atrial fibrillation is a co-morbidity – a risk factor for the evolution of the diabetes patient.

The association of AF with DM is a situation that enables a holistic approach to AF with patient-centred management and corresponds to the recommendations of the 2020 ESC Guideline for AF's diagnosis and management.

Against the above background, Siyu Guo, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, PR China, and colleagues aimed to elaborate on the association between type 1 diabetes mellitus and the risk of atrial fibrillation in a meta-analysis.

For this purpose, the researchers systematically searched the online databases up to August 2022 for studies related to type 1 diabetes and incidence of atrial fibrillation. The meta-analysis included a total of four cohort studies. Each study's hazard ratios (HRs) were pooled via a random-effects model.

The study led to the following findings:

• Pooled results suggested that type 1 diabetes patients had a higher AF risk (HR = 1.30) than the control group.
• The subgroup analysis found a higher AF incidence in female T1DM patients (HR = 1.50) than in male patients.
• Compared with T1DM patients over 65, those with < 65 years showed an increased risk of AF (HR = 1.45).

Our meta-analysis demonstrated that T1DM was an independent risk factor for AF development, but further studies should be performed to provide more convincing evidence.