hospital admissions

The strongest risk factors for avoidable hospital admission are age and
deprivation but ethnicity, distance to hospital, rurality, lifestyle and meteorological
factors are also important, as well as access to primary care. There is still
considerable uncertainty around which admissions are avoidable. In terms of
services to reduce admissions there is evidence of effectiveness for education, selfmanagement,
exercise and rehabilitation, and telemedicine in certain patient

Background: There are established differences in cardiovascular disease in different racial groups. Worldwide, the literature regarding the clinical epidemiology of atrial fibrillation (AF) in non-white populations is scarce.

Objectives: To document the clinical epidemiology of AF among hospital admissions to two teaching hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan, over a two-month period and to describe the clinical features and management of these patients.

Subjects: 3,766 acute medical admissions, of whom 245 (6.5%) had AF.