What are the risk factors for atrial fibrillation?
The risk factors for atrial fibrillation include hypertension, obesity, taller height, coronary heart disease, and non-white ethnicity. In particular, hypertension is the leading comorbid risk factor and is equally distributed in different races, while coronary heart disease seems more common in whites and the Middle East than in Asians. Additionally, the annual risk of atrial fibrillation-associated stroke in Asians is higher than that in other races, and the risk of stroke may start to increase at a younger age in Asians.