Population based prevalence study of Atrial Fibrillation in Rural Andhra Pradesh

This is a population-based prevalence study of Atrial Fibrillation in Rural Andhra Pradesh. The main objectives of the study are to assess the prevalence of atrial fibrillation in the adult population of rural areas of East and West Godavari Districts and, to study its cardiovascular risk profile. Undetected or suboptimally treated patients with atrial fibrillation are at high risk for stroke. The study aims to assess the burden of the condition and also understand the population’s health profile to understand the factors affecting the diagnosis of the condition and its optimal management. Sampling will be done in two stages: Forty villages in the two districts will be selected by Probability Proportional to Size sampling method. In the second stage, individuals aged 18 years and above will be selected by age and sex-stratified by simple random sampling. The study will be conducted on 11,021 participants.

The study will be done in two stages. In stage 1-on Day 1, using a door-to-door survey method, basic information such as anthropometric measurements, cardiovascular risk factors, awareness of cardiovascular risk, health-seeking behaviour and medical history will be collected. ECG will be recorded for all participants using a Smartphone compatible, hand-held ECG machine. On Day 2, fasting blood samples for glucose and lipid profile will be drawn. During stage 2, patients identified with atrial fibrillation by ECG will be further assessed for etiology for AF (using echocardiogram), risk factors for stroke and treatment (if any) adequacy.