Findings independent of other established risk factors<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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THURSDAY, Nov. 7, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Elevated baseline resting heart rate (RHR) is associated with an increased risk for incident atrial fibrillation (AF) in Black adults, according to a study published online Oct. 30 in JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Vidhushei Yogeswaran, M.D., from the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues evaluated the association between RHR and incident AF in a large community-based sample of Black adults. The analysis included 4,965 participants in the Jackson Heart Study (2000 through 2016).<\/p>\n The researchers found that during a median 14 years of follow-up, there were 458 incident AF events, yielding an incident rate of 7.5 per 1,000 person-years. For each 10 beats per minute higher RHR, there was a higher risk for incident AF when adjusting for AF risk factors (hazard ratio, 1.09; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.00 to 1.19). When excluding individuals with prior heart failure, prior myocardial infarction, and antiarrhythmic medication use at baseline, the risk was even higher (hazard ratio, 1.14; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.02 to 1.28). Age, sex, body mass index, hypertension, and physical activity level did little to modify the effect.<\/p>\n “Additional research is needed to determine whether RHR can improve the selection of individuals for AF screening, which may help to mitigate long-standing health disparities,” the authors write.<\/p>\n