Atrial fibrillation study highlights the role of GP data in research

A study led by researchers at Oxford Population Health identified 28% more cases of atrial fibrillation in primary care data than secondary care data alone.

Evidence of atrial fibrillation, which is associated with higher risks of stroke and death, was also recorded an average of 1.3 years earlier.

In the UK, an estimated 45% of cases of atrial fibrillation were first recorded in general practice, meaning that hospital records alone may not be enough to accurately determine the relevance of different risk factors, understand disease progression, or assess implementation strategies for managing the condition.

The findings, published in the journal Europace on 6 February 2025, highlight the importance of access to comprehensive health care data to improve patient care and save lives.

Jemma Hopewell, professor of precision medicine and epidemiology at Oxford Population Health, said: “Access to electronic healthcare records has revolutionised large-scale epidemiological research, but we need to consider the richness of the data available and not rely on hospital records alone to study chronic conditions such as atrial fibrillation.

“Our findings show that data from across healthcare settings are extremely powerful for understanding patient profiles, management and consequences of atrial fibrillation.

“These insights can then be used to develop new strategies that will allow us to improve patient outcomes.

“Our study reinforces the importance of rapid implementation of recommendations from the Sudlow Review, which called for improved access to different types of health data to accelerate our understanding of common conditions.”

The researchers used data from 230,060 participants in UK Biobank who had agreed to allow access to their GP records and details of any hospital admissions to examine potential differences between people with atrial fibrillation recorded in different healthcare settings.

Of these, 7,136 had a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation recorded during the seven years average follow-up period.

Professor Bryan Williams, chief scientific and medical officer at the British Heart Foundation, said: “It is crucial that we can detect this condition at an early stage so that doctors can take steps to treat the condition and prevent more strokes.

“This study addresses a hugely important challenge for the modern era of wearable technologies, notably, how to integrate data from technology into NHS data systems so that clinicians can actually access and act on the data.

“The study shows that when this integration of the patient’s primary care and hospital records is achieved, many more cases of atrial fibrillation can be identified, allowing doctors to act to limit its consequences.

“Linking data from across different healthcare settings can unlock new understanding and better ways of treating and managing common conditions, helping us make more breakthroughs for cardiovascular patients.

“Helping researchers and clinicians to do this, while maintaining people’s trust in the use of this data, must be a focus for the government.’

The research was funded by the British Heart Foundation and the National Institute for Health and Care Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre.