The natural history of palpitations in a family practice.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to assess whether palpitations are an independent risk factor for increased cardiac morbidity or mortality. A cohort of 109 patients with palpitations, seen over a five-year period in a primary care setting, was compared with an age- and sex-matched control cohort. Mean length of follow-up was 42 months. There was no statistically significant difference in incidence of morbidity or mortality (6.4 percent for the cohort with palpitations and 7.2 percent for the control cohort) between the two groups. This study suggests that palpitations are not an independent risk factor for increased cardiac morbidity or mortality.