(HealthDay)—There is a correlation for asthma and lack of asthma control with the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), according to a study published online July 11 in JAMA Cardiology.

Aivaras Cepelis, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, and colleagues conducted a prospective population cohort study to examine the correlation between asthma, levels of asthma control, and AF. Participants from a second and third iteration of the survey-based Nord-Trøndelag Health Study were recruited. Data were included for 54,567 adults.

The researchers found that 10.9 percent of the participants reported ever having asthma; 7.2 and 4.6 percent reported being diagnosed with asthma and having active asthma, respectively. Overall, 3.8 percent of participants developed AF during a mean follow-up of 15.4 years. Compared to participants without asthma, those with physician-diagnosed asthma had a significantly increased risk of developing AF (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.38). A dose-response association was seen between levels of asthma control and AF risk, with the highest risk for those with uncontrolled asthma (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.74).

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