Awareness of atrial fibrillation in Japan: A large‐scale, nationwide Internet survey of 50 000 Japanese adults

AIM: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common underlying cause of cardiogenic cerebral embolism. To prevent cardiogenic cerebral embolism, it is important to determine the level of awareness of AF in Japan. METHODS: We used survey monitor attribute data to sample 172 824 Japanese adults aged ≥50 years from all 47 Japanese prefectures. Next, we carried out an Internet survey to determine these individuals' level of awareness of AF. RESULTS: We obtained valid responses from 53 128 respondents. There were 13 119 respondents (27.5%) spanning all age groups who had never heard the term AF (no prior knowledge), just 1791 respondents (3.8%) who knew AF well and 27 351 respondents (57.3%) who knew the name of the condition, but did not understand the disease or its treatment. No prior knowledge was highest in Kochi Prefecture (36.0%) and lowest in Yamanashi Prefecture. Knowing AF well was highest in Kyoto Prefecture (5.1%) and lowest in Tottori Prefecture, and knowing only the name was highest in Aomori Prefecture (63.0%). Factors contributing significantly to having "no prior knowledge" of AF included younger age, male sex and smaller population size (rural region), but not the numbers of arrhythmia or stroke specialists. CONCLUSIONS: Currently, 3.8% of Japanese adults had high awareness of AF, and we find this value very low. We also noted age-, sex- and region-related differences in awareness level. We believe that awareness initiatives that take into account age- and sex-related differences and prioritize prefectures with lower awareness of AF will be important for preventing cardiogenic cerebral embolism in the future. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 1100-1107.