Risk factors for new-onset atrial fibrillation during routine medical checkups of Japanese male workers.

The current study aimed to identify risk factors for atrial fibrillation (AF) detected during routine medical checkups of male workers in Japan. A nested case-control study was conducted using retrospective data from January 1998 to December 2006 collected at a hospital in Ishikawa Prefecture. Cases were those first diagnosed with AF with no record of AF events during the preceding 3 years. For each case, 2 controls were matched for age and time of medical checkup, randomly selected from among those who had not been diagnosed with AF during the same 3 years. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors in the 3 years prior for new-onset AF. Sixty-nine cases and 138 controls were recruited; their average ages were 57.6 (SD 6.7) and 57.4 years (SD 6.7), respectively. In the logistic models, new-onset AF was associated with systolic blood pressure and drinking habits in the 3 years prior.