Atrial Fibrillation More Difficult to Identify in Blacks Than Whites; Might Explain Lower Prevalence, Study Finds

More news stories on Racial Differences

Kaiser Health Disparities Report, May 12, 2009

Limitations in the methods used to diagnose atrial fibrillation—periods of irregular heartbeat—in population-based studies might explain why findings indicate that atrial fibrillation is less common among blacks than whites, according to a study published in the journal Stroke, Reuters Health reports. Atrial fibrillation is a major predictor of stroke, in which blacks have a higher rate than whites, but the reported low prevalence of atrial fibrillation among blacks has perplexed researchers.

To further investigate, Elsayed Soliman of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues used an approach called ECG, which is a diagnostic tool that measures the electrical signals of the heart, in 15,429 study participants. Twenty-seven percent of the participants were black. When examining the ethnic distribution of ECG predictors of atrial fibrillation, researchers confirmed that atrial fibrillation was significantly less common among blacks than whites—0.24% compared with 0.95%. However, blacks had significantly higher and more abnormal values for the atrial fibrillation predictors, and atrial fibrillation was intermittent and more difficult to identify in blacks.

Soliman said that “not seeing atrial fibrillation in a black patient’s ECG does not mean that he or she is not at risk or already having intermittent episodes of atrial fibrillation,” adding, “Physicians should use the ECG to evaluate black patients’ risk of stroke by determining if the patient has certain predictors of atrial fibrillation, instead of the condition itself.” He added, “This will enable physicians to know who is at risk for stroke and subsequently can take the appropriate preventive measures” (Rauscher, Reuters Health, 5/11).

[Editor’s Note: “Ethnic Distribution of ECG Predictors of Atrial Fibrillation and Its Impact on Understanding the Ethnic Distribution of Ischemic Stroke in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study,” by Elsayed Z. Soliman,et al., can be read on-line or downloaded as a PDF file here. There is a charge.]

Original article

(Posted on May 13, 2009)

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Comments

1 — sbuffalonative wrote at 6:17 PM on May 13:

Of all the black doctors, black researchers, black medical schools in the world, not one of them found solutions to black health issues. It’s always left to whites to find the answers to black problems and treat them more seriously than those of everyone else. Anything less is racist.

2 — Anonymous wrote at 10:38 AM on May 14:

Elsayed Soliman another Muslim in a position of power

3 — john wrote at 12:46 PM on May 14:

While I certainly am not qualified to comment on the anomaly of lower rates of atrial fibrillation among blacks, there would appear to be no mystery regarding their higher incidence of stroke.

Simple personal observation reveals a much higher incidence of gross obesity among blacks than whites or Asians. This clearly results in much higher incidence of hypertension and resultant strokes in their population.

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