Severe hypoglycemia is a risk factor for atrial fibrillation in type 2 diabetes mellitus: Nationwide population-based cohort study

AIMS: This study investigated the association between severe hypoglycemia (SH) and new onset atrial fibrillation (AF) and all-cause mortality in adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: Retrospective data on patients with T2DM aged between 30 and 75years who received healthcare checkups from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2008 were analyzed using the National Health Insurance Database in Korea. The primary outcome was newly diagnosed non-valvular AF occurring after SH episode using ICD-10 codes. RESULTS: Among 1,509,280 subjects, 10,864 (0.72%) patients had experienced SH events in the three years prior to health examination, and a total of 48,916 (3.24%) first-time AF episodes occurred during the follow-up period of 8.5years. The incidence of AF was significantly higher in the group with SH than the group without SH. After multivariable adjustment, previous SH was a significant risk factor for the development of AF (HR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01-1.19). All-cause mortality was also significantly increased in patients with previous SH events and prior SH with subsequent AF occurrence, compared to patients without SH events. CONCLUSIONS: Prior SH events were associated with a higher risk of new onset AF and all-cause mortality in patients with T2DM.restrictio