An observational study of clinical and health system factors associated with catheter ablation and early ablation treatment for atrial fibrillation in Australia

Objective: To investigate clinical and health system factors associated with receiving catheter ablation (CA) for non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF). Study Design and Setting: We used hospital administrative data linked with death registrations in New South Wales, Australia for patients with a primary diagnosis of AF between 2009 and 2017. We investigated factors associated with receiving CA (using Cox regression) and early ablation (using logistic regression). Results: Cardioversion during index admission (hazard ratio [HR] 1.96; 95% CI 1.75-2.19), year of index admission (HR 1.07; 1.07; 95% CI 1.05-1.10), private patient status (HR 2.65; 95% CI 2.35-2.97), and living in more advantaged areas (HR 1.18; 95% CI 1.13-1.22) were associated with a higher likelihood of receiving CA. Private patient status (odds ratio [OR] 2.04; 95% CI 1.59-2.61) and a history of cardioversion (OR 1.25; 95% CI 1.0-1.57) and diabetes (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.06-2.41) were associated with receiving early ablation. Conclusion: Beyond clinical factors, private patients are more likely to receive CA and earlier ablation than their public counterparts. Whether the earlier access to ablation procedures in private patients is leading to differences in outcomes among patients with atrial fibrillation remains to be explored.