Incident Atrial Fibrillation Among American Indians in California.

Members of the white race have consistently exhibited a higher prevalence and incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF). This observation has been referred to as the racial paradox, given that minorities often experience more traditional AF risk factors than whites. Although American Indians exhibit high rates of AF risk factors, they have not been included in previous research that has examined the relationship between race and incident AF. We used the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) California State Databases to identify California residents ({greater than or equal to}18 years of age) who received care in an emergency department, inpatient hospital unit, or ambulatory surgery setting between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2011. Patients entered the cohort at first healthcare encounter, were followed up prospectively, and were censored on diagnosis of AF, time of inpatient death, or end of the study period. Certification to use deidentified HCUP data was obtained from the University of California, San Francisco, Institutional Review Board.