Incidence and prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in endurance athletes
| Author | Type of study | No of athletes | No of controls | Statistical variable of interest | Statistical results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mont et al2 | Subgroup analysis of lone AF population | Individuals involved in sport practice | Individuals without prior history of endurance exercise | Percentage of sportsmen vs non-sportsmen among patients with lone AF | 63% sportsmen versus 15% general population (p = 0.05) |
| Elosua et al3 | Retrospective case control | 58 endurance athletes | 51 sedentary controls | Incidence of AF in endurance athletes versus controls | OR 2.87; CI 1.39 to 7.05; p<0.05 |
| Molina et al4 | Retrospective cohort study | 252 marathon runners | 305 sedentary controls | Incidence of AF in marathon runners versus controls | Heart rate = 8.80; 95% CI 1.26 to 61.29; p = 0.05 |
| Karjalainen et al5 | Nested case control | 300 orienteers | 495 healthy, non- exercising | (1) RR of AF in orienteers; (2) incidence of AF in cases versus controls | (1) RR = 5.5 p = 0.05; (2) 5.3% versus 0.9%; p = 0.05 |
| Baldersberger and Attenhofer32 | Longitudinal case control | 134 cyclists | 62 controls | Percentage of AF among cyclists versus sedentary controls | 10% cyclists versus 0% controls; p = 0.05 |
| GIRAFA Study33 | Prospective case control | 107 physically active adults | 107 sedentary subjects | Incidence of AF in physically active versus sedentary subjects | OR 7.31 CI 2.33 to 22.9; p<0.05 |
CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio; RR, relative risk.