Atrial fibrillation (AF) and sleep apnea are prevalent conditions that frequently coexist in our patients. Well-designed epidemiological studies demonstrate that each condition influences the outcome of the other in a largely negative way. Cardiologists in the United States and across the world vary considerably in their awareness of sleep apnea as a driver of poorer AF outcomes, approaches to sleep apnea screening, and decision-making regarding co-management. Better understanding of this variance may provide an opportunity to promote uniform awareness of this problem and allow for the design of useful clinical trials that can guide future management in a more consistent and evidence-based fashion.

The International Collaboration of Sleep Apnea Cardiovascular Trialists (INCOSACT), a group of cardiovascular and sleep apnea investigators from across the globe, identified that research is needed to develop stronger evidence on the association between sleep apnea and AF to guide clinical practice. As a first step, there is a need to better understand how practicing cardiologists think about sleep apnea in their practices. You can help!

Please complete the brief survey on https://incosact.wappsystem.com.au to help improve our understanding of the issues cardiologists face in relationship to AF and sleep apnea. The information from these surveys will be used to identify information gaps and help design studies to address such gaps.

Please feel free to email faulxm@ccf.org if you want to learn more about participating in future AF-sleep apnea research.

Keywords: Arrhythmias, Cardiac, Atrial Fibrillation, Research Personnel, Sleep Apnea Syndromes, Decision Making, Epidemiologic Studies

< Back to Listings