Prevalence and characteristics of OSAFED syndrome in atrial fibrillation primary care patients

Abstract

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) constitutes the most prevalent arrhythmia, affecting up-to 2% of the general population. Apart from well-established risk factors that increase the odds for the development of AF, e.g. age or arterial hypertension, recent analyses indicate that obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) may independently, negatively modify the arrhythmia occur­rence profile. Concurrently, erectile dysfunction (ED) is a commonly neglected, potent marker of cardiovascular risk, which considerably worsens men’s psychological state. Unrecognised or untreated ED results in substantial deterioration of the patient’s therapeutic programme adherence. Because AF, OSA, and ED share multiple risk factors and clinical consequences, in 2013 the concept of their frequent concurrence — OSAFED syndrome — was proposed.

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of OSAFED patients with AF in primary care practice.

Methods: Retrospective analysis was carried out of data from primary care physician charts (NZOZ Esculap Gniewkowo, central Poland) including 1372 men aged 40–65 years. The primary goal was to determine the diagnosis of paroxysmal and/or perma­nent AF, which was followed by sleep apnoea screening (polygraphy) and erectile function evaluation (IIED-5 questionnaire).

Results: Twenty-one (1.5%) patients with documented AF were identified. Based on the sleep-polygraphic studies, 14 (67%) of them had confirmation of OSA with mean apnoea–hypopnea index (AHI) equal to 27.5 ± 17.1. Furthermore, 11 (52%) patients met the OSAFED syndrome criteria. Patients with OSAFED syndrome had a mean score in IIEF-5 of 11.6 ± 3.5. The OSAFED-patients who were not diagnosed with all the of the syndrome components prior to the study-enrolment were characterised by substantially lower fat excess compared to their counterparts with already established OSAFED (body mass index: 30.1 ± 4.9 vs. 37.7 ± 3.9 kg/m², respectively, p = 0.03).

Conclusions: Frequently coexisting OSAFED syndrome components in all AF patients from the primary care setting should encourage a more active search for OSA and ED in patients with any documented form of AF. Most of the studied patients did not have the diagnosis of OSA nor ED done prior to participation in the study.