The purpose of this article is to systematically evaluate the prevalence, outcomes, and risk factors of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) in critically ill patients.Medline, Embase, Science Citation Index, Wanfang, CNKI, and Wiley Online Library were thoroughly searched to identify relevant studies. Studies were assessed for methodological quality using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system. Odds ratio (OR) and weighted mean difference (WMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to assess the strength of the association. Heterogeneity, subgroup, sensitivity analyses, and publication bias were conducted.A total of 25 studies were included. The prevalence of new-onset AF ranged from 4.1% to 46%.The random-effects pooled prevalence was 10.7%. The pooled result jumped up to 35.8% in patients with septic shock. Pooled analysis showed significant associations between new-onset AF with intensive care unit (ICU) mortality and in-hospital mortality over those patients without AF (OR = 3.11; 95%CI 2.45-3.96 and OR = 1.63; 95%CI 1.27-2.08). The pooled analysis also indicated that both ICU and hospital length of stay are longer in patients with new-onset AF than those without AF (WMD = 1.87; 95%CI 0.89-2.84 and WMD = 2.73; 95%CI 0.77-4.69). Independent risk factors included increasing age, shock, sepsis, use of a pulmonary artery catheter and mechanical ventilation, fluid loading, and organ failures.New-onset AF incidence rate is high in critically ill patients. New-onset AF is associated with worse outcomes. Further studies should be done to explore how to prevent and treat new-onset AF in critically ill patients.
Keywords: Intensive care unit.