van Doorn S, et al. - In this prospective cohort study, researchers characterized the hospitalization and mortality risk for community-dwelling older patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) using anticoagulants and evaluated the relationship between traditional cardiac risk factors and these outcomes. Participants in the study were 2,068 patients with AF using oral anticoagulants. They observed that stroke risk was effectively decreased and so fairly low in anticoagulated community-dwelling patients with AF. On the other hand, risks of hospitalization and mortality remain high, important mainly for non-cardiac causes. The study findings suggested that older age, heart failure, and vascular disease consistently forecast such outcomes and might be of value in identifying high-risk patients.