Characteristics of the total study population, including patients with at least one positive index test versus patients with three negative index tests
| Characteristic | All (n=4339) | ≥1 positive index test* (n=526) | Three index tests negative (n=3813) | P value |
| Female, n (%) | 2336 (53.8) | 248 (47.1) | 2088 (54.8) | 0.001 |
| Age in years, M (SD) | 73.5 (5.5) | 74.8 (5.9) | 73.4 (5.4) | <0.001 |
| Ethnic origin† | 0.052 | |||
| White, n (%) | 4173 (96.2) | 513 (97.5) | 3660 (96.0) | |
| Black, n (%) | 77 (1.8) | 10 (1.9) | 67 (1.8) | |
| Other, n (%)‡ | 84 (1.9) | 3 (0.6) | 81 (2.1) | |
| History§ | ||||
| Hypertension, n (%) | 2212 (51.1) | 280 (53.2) | 1932 (50.7) | 0.251 |
| Stroke/TIA, n (%) | 329 (7.6) | 37 (7.0) | 292 (7.7) | 0.621 |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 783 (18.1) | 110 (20.9) | 673 (17.7) | 0.065 |
| Heart failure, n (%) | 80 (1.8) | 18 (3.4) | 62 (1.6) | 0.004 |
| Thromboembolism, n (%) | 200 (4.6) | 19 (3.6) | 181 (4.7) | 0.248 |
| Vascular disease, n (%) | 644 (14.8) | 102 (19.4) | 542 (14.2) | 0.002 |
| Symptoms¶ | ||||
| Palpitations, n (%) | 735 (17.0) | 102 (19.4) | 633 (16.6) | 0.108 |
| Vertigo, n (%) | 935 (21.6) | 141 (26.8) | 794 (20.8) | 0.002 |
| Syncope, n (%) | 164 (3.8) | 25 (4.8) | 139 (3.6) | 0.213 |
| Dyspnoea, n (%) | 925 (21.3) | 158 (30.0) | 767 (20.1) | <0.001 |
| Chest tightness, n (%) | 426 (9.8) | 64 (12.2) | 362 (9.5) | 0.054 |
| Exercise intolerance, n (%) | 962 (22.2) | 153 (29.1) | 809 (21.2) | <0.001 |
| Any of the above, n (%) | 2228 (51.3) | 316 (60.1) | 1912 (50.1) | <0.001 |
| Signs | ||||
| Unequal pulse, n (%) | 125 (4.9) | 78 (14.8) | 47 (1.2) | <0.001 |
| Heart rate (bpm), M (SD)** | ||||
| Radial pulse palpation | 71.2 (11.2) | 68.8 (11.3) | 71.5 (11.1) | <0.001 |
| WatchBP Home A | 72.1 (12.8) | 71.7 (12.9) | 72.1 (12.8) | 0.512 |
| MyDiagnostick | 72.0 (11.9) | 72.2 (14.1) | 72.0 (11.6) | 0.722 |
| Systolic blood pressure††, M (SD) | 143.0 (18.7) | 141.9 (18.9) | 143.2 (18.8) | 0.152 |
| Diastolic blood pressure††, M (SD) | 78.7 (9.8) | 78.7 (10.1) | 78.7 (9.7) | 0.865 |
| AF on Holter‡‡§§, n (%) | 4 (0.1) | 0 | 4 (0.1) | 0.029 |
*Index tests were: radial pulse palpation and two devices with AF detection algorithm: an electronic blood pressure monitor (WatchBP Home A) and a handheld ECG device (MyDiagnostick).
†For every patient, only one answering option could be filled in (exclusive categories). For five patients, the ethnic origin was missing (n=4334).
‡Patients in this category were mostly born outside the Netherlands (n=78); the four predominant countries of birth were Indonesia (n=36), Suriname (n=14), Morocco (n=8) and Turkey (n=5).
§For nine patients, history was missing (n=4330).
¶Results were missing in 5 patients for palpitations (n=4334), 4 for vertigo (n=4335), 3 for syncope (n=4336), 2 for dyspnoea (n=4337), 1 for chest tightness (n=4338) and 13 for exercise intolerance (n=4326).
**There were 157 results missing for heart rate on WatchBP Home A (n=4182) and 732 for MyDiagnostick (n=3607).
††If the WatchBP Home A failed, blood pressure was measured manually. Blood pressure was still missing for 53 patients (n=4286).
‡‡Holter results were available for 270 patients.
§§Fisher’s exact test.
AF, atrial fibrillation; M, mean; TIA, transient ischemic attack.