Compliance of atrial fibrillation treatment with the ABC pathway in patients with concomitant diabetes mellitus in the Middle East based on the Gulf SAFE registry

Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and diabetes mellitus (DM) constitute a heavy burden on healthcare expenditure due to their negative impact on clinical outcomes in the Middle East. The Atrial fibrillation Better Care (ABC) pathway provides a simple strategy of integrated approach of AF management: A—Avoid stroke; B—Better symptom control; C—Cardiovascular comorbidity risk management. Aims: Evaluation of the AF treatment compliance to ABC pathway in DM patients in the Middle East. Assessment of the impact of ABC pathway adherence on all-cause mortality and the composite outcome of stroke/systemic embolism, all-cause death and cardiovascular hospitalisations. Methods: From 2043 patients in the Gulf SAFE registry, 603 patients (mean age 63; 48% male) with DM were included in an analysis of ABC pathway compliance: A—appropriate use of anticoagulation according to CHA ₂DS ₂-VASc score; B—AF symptoms management according to the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) scale; C—Optimised cardiovascular comorbidities management. Results: 86 (14.3%) patients were treated in compliance with the ABC pathway. During 1-year follow-up, 207 composite outcome events and 87 deaths occurred. Mortality was significantly lower in the ABC group vs non-ABC (5.8% vs 15.9%, P =.0014, respectively). On multivariate analysis, ABC compliance was associated with a lower risk of all-cause death and the composite outcome after 6 months (OR 0.18; 95% CI: 0.42-0.75 and OR 0.54; 95% Cl: 0.30-1.00, respectively) and at 1 year (OR 0.30; 95% Cl: 0.11-0.76 and OR 0.57; 95% Cl: 0.33-0.97, respectively) vs the non-ABC group. Conclusions: Compliance with the ABC pathway care was independently associated with the reduced risk of all-cause death and the composite outcome in DM patients with AF, highlighting the importance of an integrated approach to AF management.