Table 1 Characteristics of publications retrieved—classified by country

Publication type

Journal article

8

2

7

3

20

Conference abstract

0

3

2

0

5

Report

1

1

0

0

2

Study design

Cohort

1

1

2

1

5

Case–control

0

0

0

0

0

Cross-sectional

4

0

5

0

9

Descriptive

4

5

2

2

13

Epidemiological index or theme^a

Antecedents of AF

0

0

2

0

2

Incidence of AF in a population

1

0

0

1

2

Prevalence of AF in a population

1

2

1

1

5

AF in primary care consultations

1

0

0

0

1

AF hospital admission rates

0

1

0

0

1

Outcomes in AF patients

1

1

1

1

4

Health service provision

0

0

0

1

1

AF as an outcome

0

0

1

0

1

Occurrence of AF in a clinical group

6

2

4

2

14

Primary focus on AF

Yes—Indigenous AF

3

2

3

1

9

Yes—AF (Other)

0

1

3

0

4

No

6

3

3

2

14

Setting

Community

1

2

4

0

7

Primary care

1

0

0

0

1

Hospital patients: no population denominator

4

3

4

1

12

Hospital patients: population denominator

3

1

0

2

6

Hospital patients and community

0

0

1

0

1

Calendar period of final data collection

1980-1995

0

1

0

0

1

1996-2005

0

2

3

0

5

2006 onwards

9

3

6

3

21

Total

9

6

10

3

27