Baseline demographics of a contemporary Belgian atrial fibrillation cohort included in a large randomised clinical trial on targeted education and integrated care (AF-EduCare/AF-EduApp study)

Background: As the prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) increases worldwide and AF management becomes ever more diversified and personalised, insights into (regional) AF patient demographics and contemporary AF management are needed. This paper reports the current AF management and baseline demographics of a Belgian AF population recruited for a large multicenter integrated AF study (AF-EduCare/AF-EduApp study). Methods: We analyzed data from 1,979 AF patients, assessed between 2018 and 2021 for the AF-EduCare/AF-EduApp study. The trial randomised consecutive patients with AF (irrespective of AF history duration) into three educational intervention groups (in person-, online-, and application-based), compared with standard care. Baseline demographics of both the included and excluded/refused patients are reported. The four AF-EduCare/AF-EduApp study groups were comparable across the vast majority of parameters. Conclusions: The population showed high use of anticoagulation therapy, in line with current guidelines. In contrast to other AF trials about integrated care, the AF-EduCare/AF-EduApp study managed to incorporate all types of AF patients, both out-patient and hospitalised, with very comparable patient demographics across all subgroups. The trial will analyze whether different approaches to patient education and integrated AF care have an impact on clinical outcomes. Clinical Trial Registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03707873?term=af-educare&draw=2&rank=1, identifier: NCT03707873; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03788044?term=af-eduapp&draw=2&rank=1, identifier: NCT03788044.