Conclusion
Continued reliance only on outpatient and inpatient claims greatly
underestimates AF prevalence and incidence in the general population by
over 100%. Multimorbidity is common amongst AF patients (affecting
approximately 1 in 10 patients). AF patients with 4 or more
co-morbidities captured 20 to 40% of the AF cohorts depending on age
groups and prevalent or incident cases. Our proposed methodology can
guide future analysis of the quality/cost of care for progressive
medical conditions at the population level.