Metabolic Syndrome and the Risk of New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation in Middle-Aged East Asian Men

Background: Although the prevalence of both atrial fibrillation (AF) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been increasing in East Asia, the association between them is uncertain. Methods and Results: A total of 24,741 middle-aged Korean men without baseline AF were enrolled in a health screening program from January 2003 to December 2008. Among them, 21,981 subjects were evaluated to determine the risk of AF based on baseline MetS status through December 2016. At every visit, the subjects were evaluated for AF using ECG. MetS was defined using the criteria of the International Diabetes Federation and was present in 2,529 subjects (11.5%). Mean (+/- standard deviation) age was 45.9 +/- 5.3 years. During a mean follow-up of 8.7 years, 168 subjects (0.8%) were diagnosed with AF. The age-adjusted and multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) for MetS with AF were 1.62 (P=0.02) and 1.57 (P=0.03), respectively. Among the components of MetS, central obesity (age-adjusted HR 1.62, P<0.01) and raised blood pressure (age-adjusted HR 1.43, P=0.02) were associated with an increased risk of AF. Conclusions: MetS is associated with an increased risk of AF in middle-aged East Asian men. Of the components of MetS, central obesity is the most potent risk factor for the development of AF in this population.