Incidence of the Atrial Fibrillation in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major public health problem and leading cause of death globally. COPD fails to receive adequate attention from the health care community and government officials, with these concerns in mind we designed our study. Objective: To find out the incidence of atrial fibrillation in patients with COPD. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from 12th February 2019 to August, 2020 at the Department of Pulmonology, Ghulam Muhammad Maher Medical College teaching Hospital, Sukkur. N=150 patients with chronic obstructive lung disease were involved in this study. The Criterion for the selection of patients for the study was those patients who was a diagnosed case of COPD. The exclusion criteria were known asthmatic patients and the case of restrictive lung diseases; history of ischemic heart disease, already on cardiac medication, patients with hyperthyroidism whereas the percentages, mean and Standard deviation were computed for study variables. Results: During One year and six months phase, patients who had COPD for > 3-Year duration were explored and study. The mean, SD for age (years) of citizens of Sindh Rural and Urban was 59.52 ± 7.81. Regarding gender, male 64 % and female 36 % individuals whereas the Atrial Fibrillation (AF) was identified in 62 % patients of COPD. Conclusions: High risk of AF has been identified among the COPD patients in Pakistani Populace. Hypertension and CHF among the COPD patients were notable as self-sufficient hazard features for new beginning of AF.