Prediabetes: An overlooked risk factor for major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events in atrial fibrillation patients.

Background: Prediabetes is a well-established risk factor for major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE). However, the relationship between prediabetes and MACCE in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients has not been extensively studied. Therefore, this study aimed to establish a link between prediabetes and MACCE in AF patients.

Aim: To investigate a link between prediabetes and MACCE in AF patients.

Methods: We used the National Inpatient Sample (2019) and relevant ICD-10 CM codes to identify hospitalizations with AF and categorized them into groups with and without prediabetes, excluding diabetics. The primary outcome was MACCE (all-cause inpatient mortality, cardiac arrest including ventricular fibrillation, and stroke) in AF-related hospitalizations.

Results: Of the 2965875 AF-related hospitalizations for MACCE, 47505 (1.6%) were among patients with prediabetes. The prediabetes cohort was relatively younger (median 75 78 years), and often consisted of males (56.3% 51.4%), blacks (9.8% 7.9%), Hispanics (7.3% 4.3%), and Asians (4.7% 1.6%) than the non-prediabetic cohort ( < 0.001). The prediabetes group had significantly higher rates of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, obesity, drug abuse, prior myocardial infarction, peripheral vascular disease, and hyperthyroidism (all < 0.05). The prediabetes cohort was often discharged routinely (51.1% 41.1%), but more frequently required home health care (23.6% 21.0%) and had higher costs. After adjusting for baseline characteristics or comorbidities, the prediabetes cohort with AF admissions showed a higher rate and significantly higher odds of MACCE compared to the non-prediabetic cohort [18.6% 14.7%, odds ratio (OR) 1.34, 95% confidence interval 1.26-1.42, < 0.001]. On subgroup analyses, males had a stronger association (aOR 1.43) compared to females (aOR 1.22), whereas on the race-wise comparison, Hispanics (aOR 1.43) and Asians (aOR 1.36) had a stronger association with MACCE with prediabetes whites (aOR 1.33) and blacks (aOR 1.21).

Conclusion: This population-based study found a significant association between prediabetes and MACCE in AF patients. Therefore, there is a need for further research to actively screen and manage prediabetes in AF to prevent MACCE.