Effect of alcohol consumption on the risk of adverse events in atrial fibrillation: from the COmparison study of Drugs for symptom control and complication prEvention of Atrial Fibrillation (CODE-AF) registry

The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between alcohol consumption and atrial fibrillation (AF)-related adverse events in the AF population.

A total of 9411 patients with nonvalvular AF in a prospective observational registry were categorized into four groups according to the amount of alcohol consumption—abstainer-rare, light (<100 g/week), moderate (100–200 g/week), and heavy (≥200 g/week). Data on adverse events (ischaemic stroke, transient ischaemic attack, systemic embolic event, or AF hospitalization including for AF rate or rhythm control and heart failure management) were collected for 17.4 ± 7.3 months. A Cox proportional hazard models was performed to calculate hazard ratios (HRs), and propensity score matching was conducted to validate the results. The heavy alcohol consumption group showed an increased risk of composite adverse outcomes [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 1.32, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06–1.66] compared with the reference group (abstainer-rare group). However, no significant increased risk for adverse outcomes was observed in the light (aHR 0.88, 95% CI 0.68–1.13) and moderate (aHR 0.91, 95% CI 0.63–1.33) groups. In subgroup analyses, adverse effect of heavy alcohol consumption was significant, especially among patients with low CHA₂DS₂-VASc score, without hypertension, and in whom β-blocker were not prescribed.

Our findings suggest that heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk of adverse events in patients with AF, whereas light or moderate alcohol consumption does not.