September is National Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month: Survey Shows Americans Lack Awareness About Afib, Its Risk Factors and Symptoms

– In observation of National Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month, a survey sponsored by iRhythm Technologies reveals that nearly half of Americans lack awareness about the primary symptoms of this common yet potentially deadly heart rhythm disturbance. Additionally, the survey of 1,013 American adults found that fewer than 20 percent of respondents could correctly identify medical conditions such as sleep apnea and diabetes as risk factors for atrial fibrillation, or "Afib." Afib is the most common type of cardiac arrhythmia, affecting nearly 2.7 million people in the United States and increasing the risk of a stroke five-fold.

"Symptoms of Afib can vary, but typically include racing or pounding sensations in the chest, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness or fatigue. Patients with suggestive symptoms – especially those over age 65 or with medical conditions that increase the risk or worsen the consequences of Afib – should be evaluated using longer term cardiac monitoring," explained Emerson Liu, M.D., a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa. Because the incidence of Afib increases with age, the number of cases in the U.S. is expected to increase significantly in the coming years as the population ages.

Only a third of Americans are aware that Afib symptoms can also include shortness of breath (37%), dizziness or light-headedness (34%) and fatigue (27%). Even fewer respondents (21%) are aware Afib may have no symptoms at all.

While the survey showed that nearly half of Americans are aware that the risk of developing Afib is increased by a family history of the condition (48%) and high blood pressure (43%), far fewer are aware that a number of medical conditions are also risk factors for Afib: sleep apnea (16%), diabetes (14%), excessive alcohol consumption (11%), thyroid problems (7%), having major surgery (6%), lung disease (5%) and kidney disease (3%).

Data show that Afib elevates a patient's risk of ischemic stroke by five times, making its timely diagnosis critical so that proper treatment may be initiated to prevent a stroke. The survey revealed that while nearly half (45%) of Americans are aware the condition may increase stroke risk, only 17% are aware of the extent of the considerable (five-fold) increase in risk.

"Physicians need to know if stroke or TIA patients have an underlying cardiac arrhythmia which may have caused their neurological event, as this will impact treatment to help prevent a recurrence," stated Hooman Kamel, M.D., a neurologist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College.

While Afib can be difficult to detect because its symptoms occur sporadically – or, in some cases, patients have no symptoms – new digital healthcare technologies are improving doctors' ability to diagnose the condition. For example, the ZIO Service® utilizes a small, wearable patch that continuously records a patient's heart beats for up to two weeks. The heart beat data is then analyzed and a report is shared with the patient's doctor using a secure website, to enable proper Afib diagnosis and treatment if necessary. The ZIO Service is FDA-cleared and its performance is backed by multiple peer-reviewed, published studies.

"Continuous long-term cardiac monitoring is essential to detect Afib, which may occur infrequently and often has no symptoms," continued Dr. Kamel. "However, many of the available monitoring options do not capture enough data or record for a long enough period of time, are burdensome for patients to wear or are too expensive." Additionally, while various technologies have been introduced recently to detect heart beat information, few of these options are FDA-cleared or supported with extensive clinical data.

The ZIO Service, comprised of the ZIO® XT Patch, proprietary algorithms and the ZIO Report, is proven in multiple, peer-reviewed published studies to produce a higher diagnostic yield and to change patient management, compared to traditional approaches to ambulatory electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring. The ZIO XT Patch is a noninvasive, water-resistant heart monitor that is easy to use and discrete to wear, and is worn for up to 14 days, prompting high patient compliance and a higher diagnostic yield. Proprietary algorithms analyze the vast amounts of captured heart beat data and a concise report is provided to the patient's physician. Since its commercial launch in 2011, the ZIO Service has been used with more than 250,000 patients at nearly 800 institutions nationwide. The ZIO Service is covered for most Medicare patients and by leading private payers nationwide, representing nearly 200 million covered lives.

iRhythm is a privately held digital health company that derives clinically valuable meaning from heart rhythm data to advance patient care in the management of cardiac arrhythmia information, a large and growing unmet clinical need. iRhythm develops and commercializes FDA-cleared solutions that integrate consumer-friendly biosensor technology, vast patient data, powerful analytics and medical expertise. Its flagship solution, the ZIO Service, offers a proven approach to long-term continuous monitoring that enables diagnosis earlier in the clinical pathway to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. For more information, please visit www.irhythmtech.com.