Atrial fibrillation increases the risk of new-onset myocardial infarction amongst working-age population: a propensity-matched study

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the association between atrial fibrillation (AF) and new-onset myocardial infarction (MI) among a working-age population in an industrial city of North China. Methods In total 77,670 participants aged under 60 years were selected for this cohort study. Participants were divided into an AF group ( n = 121) and a non-AF group ( n = 74,565) based on their medical histories. Thereafter, 121 participants from the AF group were propensity-matched with 363 participants from the non-AF group. All participants were followed up from June 2006 to December 2020; new-onset MI was regarded as the endpoint of this study. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis models were designed to analyze the correlation between AF and new-onset MI. Results During the 14-year follow-up, eight cases of new-onset MI were documented in the AF group, while five cases were documented in the non-AF group. The cumulative incidence of new-onset MI in the AF group (7.40%) was markedly higher than in the non-AF group (1.41%; p < 0.001). Atrial fibrillation was associated with an increased risk of new-onset MI in both univariate analysis (hazard ratio: 5.202, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.700–15.913) and multivariable-adjusted analysis (hazard ratio: 5.335, 95% CI: 1.683–16.910). Conclusion Atrial fibrillation increased the risk of new-onset MI amongst working-age individuals in an industrial city of North China.