Risk of atrial fibrillation in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

• The prevalence of AF in IBD patients is 6.23 %. • The incidence of AF in IBD patients is 3.53 %. • IBD patients have an elevated risk of AF compared to the general population. • CD patients have a higher AF incidence compared to UC patients. Several studies have reported the association between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). This systematic review and meta -analysis aimed to determine the prevalence and incidence of AF in the IBD population. We conducted a systematic search of the PubMed and Embase databases for relevant studies published up to February 2024. We used the random-effects model to pool the prevalence and incidence rates of AF among IBD patients. The subgroup analyses were performed according to the IBD type. A total of twenty-five studies were included. The pooled prevalence of AF among IBD patients was 6.23 % (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 4.99 %−7.47 %). The incidence rate of AF among IBD patients was 3.53 % (95 % CI: 0.57 %−6.48 %). The risk of developing AF in IBD patients was 1.45 times higher than that in the general population (risk ratio [RR]: 1.45, 95 % CI: 1.21–1.73). When comparing specific IBD types to the general population, the RR was 1.35 (95 % CI: 1.11–1.64) for CD and 1.17 (95 % CI: 1.11–1.23) for UC. Our findings suggest that IBD patients exhibit an increased risk of developing AF compared to the general population. CD patients have a higher AF incidence compared to UC patients.