Cognitive Impairment Associated With Atrial Fibrillation A Meta-analysis

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) has been linked with an in-creased risk for cognitive impairment and dementia. Purpose: To complete a meta-analysis of studies examining the association between AF and cognitive impairment. Data Sources: Search of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and EMBASE databases and hand search of article refer-ences. Study Selection: Prospective and nonprospective studies reporting adjusted risk estimates for the association between AF and cogni-tive impairment. Data Extraction: Two abstracters independently extracted data on study characteristics, risk estimates, methods of AF and outcome ascertainment, and methodological quality. Data Synthesis: Twenty-one studies were included in the meta-analysis. Atrial fibrillation was significantly associated with a highe