Citation

Hu T, Noheria A, Asirvatham SJ. Mayo Clin. Proc. 2020; 95(4): 632-635.

Affiliation

Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Division of Heart Rhythm Services, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. Electronic address: asirvatham.samuel@mayo.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.mayocp.2020.02.017

PMID

32247334

Abstract

Beyond age, traditionally recognized risk factors for falls include unsteady gait, muscle weakness, impaired cognition, and poly- pharmacy. Malik et al2 present a detailed systematic review evaluating the role of atrial fibrillation (AF) in falls/syncope and conclude that AF is independently associated with falls (odds ratio [OR], 1.19; 95% CI, 1.07-1.33) and syncope (OR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.20-2.94) based on a meta-analysis of 7 and 3 observational studies, respectively. They offer potential mechanisms and call into question the issue of AF-attributable vs merely AF-correlated mechanisms of fall/ syncope.

Language: en