{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,6]],"date-time":"2026-06-06T23:30:58Z","timestamp":1780788658056,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,5,25]],"date-time":"2018-05-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1527206400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and objectives: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia worldwide and a major risk factor for cardiovascular complications. Our study aimed to investigate the prevalence, risk factors, demographics, co-morbidities and treatment of AF among in-hospital Bulgarian patients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study including 1027 consecutive patients (n = 516, 50.2% males) with a mean age of 67.6 \u00b1 11.3 years, hospitalized for any reason from 1 May until 31 December 2016 in one of the largest internal clinics in Bulgaria, was carried out. Results: Atrial fibrillation was diagnosed in 634 (61.7%) patients. The prevalence of modifiable AF risk factors was as follows: heart failure, 98.9%; arterial hypertension (HTN), 93.5%; valvular heart disease, 40.9%; chronic lung disease, 26.7%; type 2 diabetes mellitus, 24.9%; thyroid disease, 16.9%; and ischemic heart disease, 11.2%. Univariate logistic regression analysis identified the following risk factors with strongest impact on AF: left ventricular ejection fraction &lt;40% (odds ratio (OR) = 1.951, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.208\u20133.151), valvular heart disease (OR = 1.926, 95% CI 1.134\u20133.862), left ventricular ejection fraction 40\u201349% (OR = 1.743, 95% CI 1.248\u20133.017), HTN (OR = 1.653, 95% CI 1.092\u20133.458). History of ischemic stroke was present in 14.4% of the patients with AF. Oral antithrombotic drugs were prescribed to 85.7%: direct oral anticoagulants to 37.9%, vitamin K antagonists to 43.2%, and antiplatelets to 4.6%. Heart rate control medications and antiarrhythmics were prescribed to 75.4% and 40.2%, respectively. Conclusions: Atrial fibrillation was highly prevalent among our study population. Reduced and mid-range left ventricular ejection fraction, valvular heart disease, and HTN were the risk factors with the strongest association with AF. Although a large number of our AF patients were administered antithrombotic treatment, the prescription rate of oral anticoagulants should be further improved.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina54030034","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,5,28]],"date-time":"2018-05-28T03:54:21Z","timestamp":1527479661000},"page":"34","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Risk Factors, Co-Morbidities and Treatment of In-Hospital Patients with Atrial Fibrillation in Bulgaria"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"54","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0855-7861","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefan","family":"Naydenov","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Diseases \u201cProf. St. Kirkovich\u201d, Medical University of Sofia, Sofia 1431, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2291-5346","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nikolay","family":"Runev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Diseases \u201cProf. St. Kirkovich\u201d, Medical University of Sofia, Sofia 1431, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5732-9304","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emil","family":"Manov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Diseases \u201cProf. St. Kirkovich\u201d, Medical University of Sofia, Sofia 1431, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniela","family":"Vasileva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Diseases \u201cProf. St. Kirkovich\u201d, Medical University of Sofia, Sofia 1431, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yavor","family":"Rangelov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Diseases \u201cProf. St. Kirkovich\u201d, Medical University of Sofia, Sofia 1431, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nadya","family":"Naydenova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinic of Cardiology, UMHAT \u201cSt. Ekaterina\u201d, Medical University of Sofia, Sofia 1431, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,5,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2893","DOI":"10.1093\/eurheartj\/ehw210","article-title":"2016 ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation developed in collaboration with EACTS","volume":"37","author":"Kirchhof","year":"2016","journal-title":"Eur. 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