Screening increases atrial fibrillation detection 10-fold: study
The use of wearable ECG monitors should be explored as a strategy to prevent stroke, the researchers say
Screening older people at stroke risk for AF with a wearable ECG device finds 10 times as many cases as usual care, a two-nation trial suggests.
In the SCREEN-AF open label clinical trial, 856 participants were randomised to wear a cardiac ECG patch monitor (cECG) for two weeks at baseline and again at three months plus usual care or to usual care alone (a pulse check and auscultation at baseline and six months).
Participants (57% female) were recruited from 48 primary care practices, with 65% coming from Canada and the rest from Germany.
All were aged over 75 years and had hypertension, a CHADS2 score of two or higher, no contraindication to oral anticoagulant use and no history of AF.
