Increasing screening for atrial fibrillation in general practice: the Atrial Fibrillation Self-Screening, Management And guideline-Recommended Therapy (AF Self-SMART) study

Abstract

Objective: To assess whether atrial fibrillation (AF) self-screening stations in general practice waiting rooms improve AF screening, diagnosis, and stroke risk management.

Design, setting: Intervention study (planned duration: twelve weeks) in six New South Wales general practices (two in rural locations, four in greater metropolitan Sydney), undertaken during 28 August 2020 - 5 August 2021.

Participants: People aged 65 years or more who had not previously been diagnosed with AF, and had appointments for face-to-face GP consultations. People with valvular AF were excluded.

Intervention: AF self-screening station and software, integrated with practice electronic medical record programs, that identified and invited participation by eligible patients, and exported single-lead electrocardiograms and automated evaluations to patients' medical records.

Main outcome measures: Screening rate; incidence of newly diagnosed AF during intervention and pre-intervention periods; prescribing of guideline-recommended anticoagulant medications.

Results: Across the six participating practices, 2835 of 7849 eligible patients (36.1%) had face-to-face GP appointments during the intervention period, of whom 1127 completed AF self-screening (39.8%; range by practice: 12-74%). AF was diagnosed in 49 screened patients (4.3%), 44 of whom (90%) had CHA₂ DS₂ -VA scores of 2 or more (high stroke risk). The incidence of newly diagnosed AF during the pre-intervention period was 11 cases per 1000 eligible patients; during the intervention period, it was 22 per 1000 eligible patients (screen-detected: 17 per 1000 eligible patients; otherwise detected: 4.6 per 1000 eligible patients). Prescribing of oral anticoagulation therapy for people newly diagnosed with AF and high stroke risk was similar during the pre-intervention (20 of 24, 83%) and intervention periods (46 of 54, 85%).

Conclusions: AF self-screening in general practice waiting rooms is a feasible approach to increasing AF screening and diagnosis rates by reducing time barriers to screening by GPs. AF self-screening could reduce the number of AF-related strokes.

Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12620000233921 (prospective).

Keywords: Atrial fibrillation; General practice; Technology.