Incidence of heart failure (HF), atrial fibrillation (AF) and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in patients with COPD registered with a general practice within the Mid-Ulster federation area

<bold>Introduction</bold> Cardiovascular disease (CVD) co-morbidities are one of the most common co-morbidities of COPD and have a negative effect in terms of quality of life and mortality. Research is needed to highlight their prevalence to all clinicians to improve the rate of diagnosis, thus improving management and outcomes for these patients. <bold>Method</bold> Data collated from eleven GP practices within the Mid-Ulster Federation during April 2023 underwent comparator analysis and trend identification (n=77,979). Quality of Outcomes Framework (QOF) codes were used to identify patients with COPD and/or CVD. Searches were repeated for COPD patients (n=1575) during July 2023 to record patient gender, age and smoking status along with QOF register searches. Student’s T Test and Chi-square test for independence were performed as appropriate. p<0.05 were considered statistically significant. <bold>Results</bold> This study provides population-based evidence of higher prevalence of AF, IHD, and HF among people with COPD compared to those without COPD within the Mid-Ulster Federation area (p<0.001). The prevalence of AF, IHD and HF was greater in males than females (p<0.001, p<0.001 and p<0.01 respectively). The incidence of IHD and HF was not significantly different for current or ex-smokers compared to never smokers (p>0.05) and AF incidence was higher in never smokers than in current or ex-smokers (p<0.01) <bold>Conclusion</bold> This research highlights the need for timely diagnosis of CVD co-morbidities of COPD and the importance of holistic, multi-disciplinary care to ensure optimal management of COPD and CVD co-morbidities.