Professor Gregory Y. H. Lip, from the University of Liverpool, is co-author of a recently published scientific paper with interesting insights related to AFFIRMO.

“Impact of Multimorbidity and Polypharmacy on Clinical Outcomes of Elderly Chinese Patients with Atrial Fibrillation”. This is the title of the paper published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine on 2 March 2022.  

Professor Gregory Y. H. Lip is Price-Evans Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine and Director of the Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science (University of Liverpool).. He is one of the researchers involved in the EU-funded AFFIRMO project, with the University of Liverpool being part of the consortium. 

The publication aims to fill the data gap in evaluating the impact of multiple morbidities and polypharmacy among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), with a focus on Chinese patients. Indeed, multimorbidity and polypharmacy are common conditions among AF patients, but data on their impacts on clinical outcomes are scarce in Asian cohorts. In the paper, ‘multimorbidity’ is referred to as the co-incidence of two or more morbidities (in addition to AF), while ‘polypharmacy’ is intended as the concomitant use of five or more medications. The main objectives of the research were the following:  

• • • - To describe the baseline characteristics of patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy;  
    • - To evaluate the impact of multimorbidity and polypharmacy on clinical outcomes;  
    • - To identify potential predictors of the composite outcome in patients with multimorbidity;
    • - To assess the impact of multimorbidity and polypharmacy on AF management;
    • - To assess the efficacy and safety of oral anticoagulation (OAC) among these subgroups.

Under AFFIRMO’s perspective, the article is highly relevant to the project for the topics addressed and for the objectives just mentioned, despite the focus on Chinese patients. AFFIRMO’s objective is indeed to improve the management of AF in the context of multimorbidity of older patients, thus moving from a sectorial care strategy to an integrated and patient-centered one. 

The article also underlined that AF is an irregular and often very rapid heart rhythm whose increasing prevalence is driven by population ageing and being overburdened with other morbidities. Therefore, the co-incidence of multiple morbidities is very common among AF patients, especially the elderly ones.  

The conclusions reached in the publication, examining a cohort of 6341 individuals, highlight how multimorbidity was an independent predictor of adverse clinical outcomes and how the use of OAC was safe and significantly improved survival amongst AF patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy, going in the very same direction of AFFIRMO research. 

Therefore, and to conclude, this new publication is relevant to AFFIRMO project not only because a member of the consortium co-authors it but also because it addresses very related topics, representing an interesting “spin-off” for AFFIRMO’s audience. 

To read the entire scientific paper click here.

(Picture from the Publication Plan, News for Medical Publications Professionals)