Atrial fibrillation burden assessment in Carriers of Cardiac implantable devices for Outcome Research and Data linkage in Germany (Short: ACCORD)
The ACCORD study invites eligible patients, who have an implantable cardiac device (for example, a pacemaker), from across Germany to contribute to improve the understanding of Atrial Fibrillation (AF) in everyday clinical practice. The study is led by the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) in collaboration with the German health insurance Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), Withings, and additional consortium partners as part of the AF-B-STEP project itself.
The aim of the study is to investigate how the amount and duration of AF episodes (also referred to as “AF burden”) are associated with long-term health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease, hospitalisations, and treatments.
ACCORD is an observational study. Taking part does not mean undergoing new treatments or introducing additional medical procedures.
After appropriate consent, existing data from heart rhythm monitoring devices (such as implanted cardiac devices or smartwatches) will be securely linked with health insurance data from TK. This enables the analysis of AF in real-world healthcare settings across a large population in Germany.
The main aim of the ACCORD study is to better understand how the burden of AF, recorded by implantable cardiac devices, is linked to long-term cardiovascular outcomes such as stroke, heart failure, and cardiovascular mortality.
In addition, the study will:
- Explore how treatments that reduce AF burden may influence health outcomes
- Analyse how often patients use healthcare services in relation to AF
- Identify possible cases where AF remains undiagnosed
- Support the assessment of healthcare costs and benefits of AF treatments
- Contribute high-quality data to the international research project AF-B-STEP
Potentially eligible individuals will be identified and contacted either via postal mail by TK (for individuals with implanted cardiac devices) or, in the case of Withings smartwatch users insured by TK, via app-based push notifications.
