Atrial fibrillation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Eastern Afghanistan

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the leading respiratory disease which not only bears complications in the lungs but also in other systems of the body including heart which for example complicates to atrial fibrillation. The aim of the study was to investigate the incidences of atrial fibrillation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It was a retrospective cross sectional study conducted on the data of two years from patients admitted under the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in multiple centers in Nangarhar. The study included both male and female patients aging 18 years and over based on purposive sampling. The study included 296 patients of whom 158 (53.6%) were males and 138 (44.4%) were females. Mean age of the study population was 59.5±11.6 years. 51 out of 296 (17.2%) patients had atrial fibrillation: 26 (16.3%) males and 25 (18.1%) females. There was no case in age group 18-28 years but increased further on such as 3 cases (5.9%) in 29-39 years, 5 (9.8%) cases in 40-49 years, 14 (27.5%) cases in 50-59 years, and 27 (56.8%) cases in age group 60 and over. Atrial fibrillation was more prevalent in smokers 27 (20.3%) compared to non-smokers 14 (14.1%). Mean pulse deficit across atrial fibrillation patients was 23 ± 7 beats per minute. Atrial fibrillation was more prevalent in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease especially in females, old age, smokers, and physically inactive patients. Awareness programs should be designed to early detect cases and precision should be made in selecting medicine for chronic obstructive lung disease taking atrial fibrillation into consideration.