Prevalence and associated factors of atrial fibrillation among acute stroke patients at public referral hospitals, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, 2024. A multicenter, four years retrospective cross-sectional study.

Background The prevalence of stroke and daily adjusted life-years lost is increasing in Sub Saharan African countries, where valvular heart disease is common. However, adequate data is lacking regarding the association of atrial fibrillation in acute stroke patients. Objective To assess the prevalence of atrial fibrillation and associated factors in acute stroke patients admitted to public referral hospitals from 2020 to 2023, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Methods Institution based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted, using sample size of 326, among acute stroke patients who were admitted to two public hospitals, from January 2020 to December 2023, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Pre-developed check list was used to extract data from the medical registry. Data were entered using Epidata manager version 4.6 and analyzed using SPSS version 27. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used, considering a p-value of < 0.05 as statically significant, with a 95% confidence interval. Results The proportion of atrial fibrillation among acute stroke patients was 29.1% (95% CI, 24.3–34.4%). The mean age of the participants was 61.63 years [SD ± 16.24]. Age ≥ 65 years (AOR = 4.37, 95% CI 1.618–11.8), hypertension (AOR = 2, 95% CI 1.12–3.5), heart failure (AOR = 4.95, 95% CI 1.7–14.3) and rheumatic heart disease (AOR = 5.7, 95% CI 1.7–18.8) were significant factors associated with atrial fibrillation in acute stroke patients. Conclusion The prevalence of atrial fibrillation in acute stroke patients was high, particularly in the elderly, hypertensive, heart failure and rheumatic heart disease patients. Efficient work has to be conducted in addressing these risk factors.