Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an important risk factor for stroke, particularly in the elderly. There is limited data on AF-related stroke from the Middle East. 
Methods:
A retrospective review of a Stroke database at Hamad General Hospital, Doha, Qatar, from 1st January 2014 thru 18 October 2017 was performed.
Results: The data of 4082 patients (81.4% male, mean age 55.4+ 13.3 years) were reviewed. 
AF was present in 260 (6.4%) patients and of these 106 (2.6%) had new-onset AF.
Arabs from the Middle East and North Africa region (including Qataris) comprised 66.2% the AF cohort, whereas South Asians the biggest ethnic group in the Database (51.6% of total cases) contributed 23.8% of AF cases and other ethnicities 10%. The mean age of non-AF stroke was 54.7+12.8 vs. 65.4+16 years for AF Stroke (p<0.001).
While females represented (17.6%) of the non-AF cohort, they represented (33.8%) of the AF cohort (p<0.001).
In multivariate model both Age odd ratios (OR) of 1.03(1.02 – 1.05, 95% CI) (p<0.001) and gender OR 1.96 (1.25-2.98, 95% CI) (p= 0.001) predicted the presence of AF in this cohort. Similarly, presence of cardiac disease, presence of non-lacunar strokes and posterior circulation strokes were also independent predictors for the presence of AF (OR (1.05, 2.2, 2.49 and 2.06 respectively) (p<0.05).  
Conclusion: 
Age , female gender,presence of cardiac disease, presence of non-lacunar strokes and posterior circulation strokes are associated with AF-related stroke in a younger, multi-ethnic, gender skewed low AF prevalence population. In our population, AF-related stroke occurs a decade younger than in the western populations

PREDICTION OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION IN A MULTIETHNIC STROKE COHORT