Abstract: Objective To investigate the risk of dementia in the elderly patients with atrial fibrillation without stroke and to analyze the risk factors of dementia. Methods A total of 113 patients with atrial fibrillation without stroke admitted to the hospital from July 2014 to February 2017 were enrolled. The patients were divided into dementia group and control group based on the follow-up result. The clinical data and medication status of the two groups were analyzed, and the risk factors of dementia were analyzed by multivariate Logistic regression analysis. Results The median follow-up time of 113 patients was 41 (25-61) months. Six patients were lost to follow-up. Of the 107 patients with atrial fibrillation, 34 patients presented with dementia, with an incidence rate of 31. 77%. The age, and the proportion of persistent/permanent atrial fibrillation, hypertension and heart failure in the dementia group were significantly higher than those in the control group (all P<0. 05), while the administration rate of new oral anticoagulant was significantly lower (P<0. 05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that persistent/permanent atrial fibrillation (OR=33. 534), age (OR=1. 127), and hypertension (OR=10. 605) were independent risk factors for dementia (P<0. 05), and new oral anticoagulant (OR=0. 265) was a protective factor for dementia (P<0. 05). Conclusions The patients with atrial fibrillation without stroke should be highly alert to the occurrence of dementia, especially in the patients with persistent/permanent atrial fibrillation, but the new oral anticoagulant can effectively reduce the risk of dementia.

Key words: atrial fibrillation, stroke, dementia, risk factor