SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Med.
Sec. Geriatric Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1528195
Is Atrial Fibrillation an Increased Fracture Risk Factor? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of General Practice, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China
- 2Department of Cardiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China
- 3Department of Medical Information, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, China
- 4College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Sargent College, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
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We have observed in clinical practice that patients with fractures often have concomitant atrial fibrillation. However, it remains unclear whether atrial fibrillation increases the risk of bone fracture. A meta-analysis was performed to investigate the association between atrial fibrillation and fracture.Methods: PubMed and Cochrane Library were searched for relevant studies from January 1st 1943 to December 31st, 2024 that compared the prevalence of fracture in atrial fibrillation group with non-atrial fibrillation group.Results: A total of 5 cohort studies with 187868 participants met all the eligibility criteria for our study. 835 people suffered a fracture in atrial fibrillation group and 6512 in non-atrial fibrillation group. The overall risk of fractures was non-statistically higher in patients with 5.4% (835/15395) in atrial fibrillation group and 3.8% (6512/172473) in non-atrial fibrillation group.Analysis of included studies observed non-significant association between atrial fibrillation and fractures (odds ratio (OR) = 1.17, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.60-2.29, P=0.65). However, subgroup analysis displayed that Asian population with atrial fibrillation had a higher risk of fracture (OR = 1.61, 95%CI = 1.38-1.87, P＜0.00001), whereas no similar outcomes were seen in Caucasian population (OR=0.94, 95%CI = 0.24-3.59, P=0.92).The evidence indicated that Asians with atrial fibrillation were more prone to fractures.
Keywords: Atrial Fibrillation, Fracture, cohort study, Meta-analysis, Asians
Received: 06 Dec 2024; Accepted: 05 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Zhang, Xie, Gong, Guo, Yin, Zhao and GE. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: WEI GE, Department of General Practice, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China
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