Does Atrial Fibrillation Affect Men
and Women Differently?

Study indicates women with AF are older and sicker than men with AF.

by: AFAnswers.com staff

A recent European study took a closer look at the differences in the way men and women suffer from, and are treated for Atrial Fibrillation (AF).10 The study analyzed data collected from the Euro Heart Survey on Atrial Fibrillation.

The study compared men and women with AF, looking at the symptoms and quality of participants lives, as well as incidence of heart failure and various treatment methods. Women suffering from Atrial Fibrillation had a lower quality of life, often times suffering from more frequent and more severe symptoms.

Women were also much more likely to have had additional diseases coexisting with AF, such as hypertension and valvular heart disease. Women were also treated more conservatively than men, undergoing electrical cardioversion or catheter ablation less often than men. This course of treatment may actually have been favorable, as rhythm control had a higher correlation with excessive strokes in women.

In addition, nearly equal proportions of men and women – approximately one third of all participants – experienced heart failure. The type of heart failure, however, differed between the two genders. Women were much more likely to suffer from heart failure with preserved systolic function (proper contraction of the heart muscle), while heart failure with systolic dysfunction (improper contraction of the heart muscle) was far more common in males. In addition, one-year results showed that women had a higher rate of stroke, even when correcting for differences in age and stroke risk. In fact, female gender was identified as the second leading risk factor for stroke, preceded only by a prior stroke or transient ischemic attack.

Published: March 1, 2007