Table 3. Characteristics of patients who already used OAC in 2018; prevalent vitamin K anticoagulant (VKA) users versus prevalent direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) users.
| Characteristics | Prevalent OAC users | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prevalent VKA users | Prevalent DOAC users | P value | |||
| n | 7183 | 4857 | |||
| Mean age, years, SD | 78.6±8.0 | 75.3±7.6 | <0.01 | ||
| n | % | n | % | ||
| Sex | 0.01 | ||||
| Male | 3868 | 53.8% | 2732 | 56.2% | |
| Female | 3315 | 46.2% | 2125 | 43.8% | 0.01 |
| Type of DOACa | |||||
| Apixaban | – | 1281 | 26.4% | ||
| Dabigatran | – | 1464 | 30.1% | ||
| Edoxaban | – | 286 | 5.9% | ||
| Rivaroxaban | – | 1821 | 37.5% | ||
| Renal function (ml/min/1.73 m2) | <0.01 | ||||
| eGFR ≥50 | 4605 | 64.1% | 3366 | 69.3% | |
| eGFR <50 and≥30 | 1190 | 16.6% | 529 | 10.9% | |
| eGFR <30 | 259 | 3.6% | 56 | 1.2% | |
| eGFR n.a. | 1129 | 15.7% | 906 | 18.6% | |
| Comorbidity | |||||
| Previous thrombosis | 117 | 1.6% | 65 | 1.3% | 0.20 |
| Previous embolism | 67 | 0.9% | 34 | 0.7% | 0.17 |
| Prior stroke or TIA | 1097 | 15.3% | 654 | 13.5% | 0.01 |
| Heart failure | 1661 | 23.1% | 605 | 12.5% | <0.01 |
| Depression | 252 | 3.5% | 160 | 3.3% | 0.53 |
| Comedication | |||||
| No | 117 | 1.6% | 97 | 2.0% | 0.13 |
| Antidiabetic drugs | 1651 | 23.0% | 869 | 17.9% | <0.01 |
| Cardiovascular drugs | 6902 | 96.1% | 4611 | 94.9% | <0.01 |
| Antidepressants | 983 | 13.7% | 619 | 12.7% | 0.14 |
| Benzodiazepines | 1307 | 18.2% | 749 | 15.4% | <0.01 |
| Gastrointestinal drugs | 4621 | 64.3% | 3234 | 66.6% | 0.01 |
aType of DOAC unknown for five patients. DOAC = direct oral anticoagulant; eGFR = estimated glomerular filtration rate. OAC = oral anticoagulant. TIA = transient ischaemic attack. VKA = vitamin K antagonist.