PLoS ONE (Jan 2023)

Atrial fibrillation in UK South Asian hospitalized ischemic stroke patients: The BRAINS study.

  • Taylor Aurelius,
  • Gie Ken-Dror,
  • Sapna D Sharma,
  • Sageet Amlani,
  • Gunaratnam Gunathilagan,
  • David L Cohen,
  • Chakravarthi Rajkumar,
  • Stuart Maguire,
  • Sissi Ispoglou,
  • Ibrahim Balogun,
  • Anthea Parry,
  • Lakshmanan Sekaran,
  • Hafiz Syed,
  • Enas Lawrence,
  • Ravneeta Singh,
  • Ahamad Hassan,
  • Chris Wharton,
  • Khalid Javaid,
  • Neetish Goorah,
  • Peter Carr,
  • Eman Abdus Sami,
  • Pankaj Sharma

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281014
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 18, no. 2
p. e0281014

Abstract

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IntroductionSouth Asian diaspora comprise one of the largest ethnic minority groups in the world yet data about atrial fibrillation (AF) in this demographic is understudied. Our aim is to identify differences in AF prevalence and treatment between South Asians and white British stroke patients.MethodThe UK arm of a prospective ongoing large international repository on stroke was analysed. Ethnic differences in AF prevalence and management in those with ischemic stroke were analysed.ResultsOf the 3515 individuals recruited with ischemic stroke, 1482 (men: 972, women: 510) were South Asian and 2033 (men:1141, women:892) of white British ethnicity. AF was present in 462 white British and 193 South Asians stroke patients, with South Asians displaying a lower prevalence of AF (South Asians: 13.0% vs white British 22.7%, PConclusionStroke patients of South Asian descent are at significantly lower risk of AF but more likely to be on antiplatelet treatment compared to their white British counterparts.