In Slovakia, a national screening campaign organized in 212 pharmacies between 2017 and 2020 revealed that community pharmacies can play a key role in the early detection of atrial fibrillation, a common heart rhythm disorder in the elderly. Using blood pressure monitoring devices equipped with a detection algorithm, pharmacies identified suspected cases in 3.8% of participants. This figure, although slightly lower than that observed in other studies targeting older or hypertensive populations, remains significant and highlights the usefulness of this type of screening outside traditional medical settings.<\/p>\n
The results show that individuals with a high pulse pressure\u2014meaning a marked difference between systolic and diastolic pressure\u2014have a much higher risk of suspected atrial fibrillation. Pulse pressure is an indicator of arterial stiffness, which is itself linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Participants under treatment, particularly those taking both anticoagulants and antihypertensives, had an even more pronounced risk, up to 8.65 times higher than that of untreated individuals. Anticoagulants, used to prevent blood clots, and antihypertensives, which regulate blood pressure, are often prescribed in contexts where the risk of atrial fibrillation is already high.<\/p>\n
Another important observation concerns the resting heart rate. Researchers noted a J-shaped relationship between this rate and the detection of atrial fibrillation: individuals with a heart rate that was too low or too high had an increased risk compared to those with a normal rate. This phenomenon confirms that extremes, whether low or high, can signal a cardiac imbalance.<\/p>\n
The campaign also highlighted the importance of blood pressure in this context. Participants with uncontrolled or high blood pressure had a 2.5 times greater risk of suspected atrial fibrillation. This reinforces the idea that regular blood pressure monitoring, even in pharmacies, can help identify at-risk individuals who are unaware of their condition.<\/p>\n
Age also plays a major role, with risk increasing with age, although a slight decrease was observed in those over 80, likely due to a less representative sample in this age group. Pharmacies, often frequented by the elderly for advice or medication purchases, thus provide an ideal setting for this type of opportunistic screening.<\/p>\n
This initiative demonstrates that pharmacies can not only measure blood pressure but also detect heart rhythm disorders, allowing patients to be referred to a doctor for confirmation and appropriate management. If left untreated, atrial fibrillation can lead to serious complications such as strokes. Early detection is therefore essential to improve prevention and reduce associated risks.<\/p>\n
DOI:<\/strong> https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s44411-026-00692-1<\/a><\/p>\n Title:<\/strong> Blood Pressure Monitors in Screening of Atrial Fibrillation by Community Pharmacists: Data from a Nationwide Awareness Campaign<\/p>\n Journal:<\/strong> Bratislava Medical Journal<\/p>\n Publisher:<\/strong> Springer Science and Business Media LLC<\/p>\n Authors:<\/strong> Peter Stanko; Zuzana Macekova; Viera Zufkova; Miroslava Snopkova; Jan Klimas; Tomas Fazekas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pharmacies Effectively Detect Atrial Fibrillation In Slovakia, a national screening campaign organized in 212 pharmacies between 2017 and 2020 revealed that community pharmacies can play a key role in the early detection of atrial fibrillation, a common heart rhythm disorder in the elderly. Using blood pressure monitoring devices equipped with a detection algorithm, pharmacies identified… Continue reading Pharmacies Effectively Detect Atrial Fibrillation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-human-humanitarian","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/publichealthtribune.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/publichealthtribune.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/publichealthtribune.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publichealthtribune.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publichealthtribune.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/publichealthtribune.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60,"href":"https:\/\/publichealthtribune.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/60"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/publichealthtribune.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publichealthtribune.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publichealthtribune.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}