Among adults ≥65 years without diagnosed cardiac disease, 43% reported cardiac-related symptoms linked to significantly lower quality of life and multiple associated risk factors.
A large proportion of older adults at risk for stroke but without known cardiac disease experience cardiac-related symptoms that significantly impair their quality of life, highlighting a potential unmet need for cardiovascular screening and management.
Abstract Aims Population-based data on cardiac-related symptoms in individuals without diagnosed cardiac disease remain limited, despite important implications for early detection and management. We aimed to assess the prevalence of self-reported symptoms and the association with quality of life (QoL) among adults ≥65 years with ≥1 additional stroke risk factor, but without diagnosed cardiac disease. Methods Cross-sectional study of the NORSCREEN trial population at baseline. NORSCREEN is an ongoing, nationwide, randomised atrial fibrillation screening study in adults aged ≥65 years at increased risk of stroke (CHA2DS2-VA ≥2). All participants completed a baseline questionnaire capturing clinical information, symptoms, and QoL. Results Of 50,549 participants enrolled from 2023 to 2025, 39,281 (78%) reported no diagnosed cardiac disease. Among those, 17,069 (43%) reported cardiac-related symptoms compared to 7,551 (67%) of 11,268 individuals with known cardiac disease. Most common symptoms were fatigue, exertional dyspnoea and tachycardia. Female sex (adjusted odds ratio 1.66, 95% CI 1.58–1.75, physical inactivity (1.43 1.32–1.55), current smoking (1.24 1.12–1.37), age 75 years (1.14 1.08-1.20), living alone (1.13 1.07–1.20), and comorbidities including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (6.51 5.63-7.54) and anxiety (3.99 3.64-4.38) were associated with cardiac-related symptoms. Symptomatic individuals reported significantly lower RAND-36 QoL scores across all domains compared to those without symptoms. Conclusion In this cohort of individuals ≥65 years at increased risk of stroke, but without diagnosed cardiac disease, nearly half reported cardiac-related symptoms, which were associated with substantially reduced QoL. These findings suggest there might be unmet needs in identifying and managing cardiovascular disease.
Jortveit et al. (2026) studied this question. Among adults ≥65 years without diagnosed cardiac disease, 43% reported cardiac-related symptoms linked to significantly lower quality of life and multiple associated risk factors.
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