Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of OAC naïve patients
| All study population |
Apixaban |
Rivaroxaban |
Dabigatran |
VKA |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N=13 089 |
N=541 |
N=1589 |
N=741 |
N=10 218 |
||||||
| Gender (n, %) | ||||||||||
| Male | 7250 | 55.4% | 288 | 53.2% | 882 | 55.5% | 457 | 61.7% | 5623 | 55.0% |
| Female | 5839 | 44.6% | 253 | 46.8% | 707 | 44.5% | 284 | 38.3% | 4595 | 45.0% |
| Country (n, %) | ||||||||||
| England | 9660 | 73.8% | 328 | 60.6% | 1160 | 73.0% | 614 | 82.9% | 7558 | 74.0% |
| Wales | 1404 | 10.7% | 40 | 7.4% | 63 | 4.0% | 57 | 7.7% | 1244 | 12.2% |
| Scotland | 1471 | 11.2% | 56 | 10.4% | 278 | 17.5% | 38 | 5.1% | 1099 | 10.8% |
| Northern Ireland | 554 | 4.2% | 117 | 21.6% | 88 | 5.5% | 32 | 4.3% | 317 | 3.1% |
| Age (years) at index date | ||||||||||
| Median (IQR) | 75.0 (68.0–82.0) | 75.0 (68.0–83.0) | 77.0 (70.0–83.0) | 74.0 (66.0–81.0) | 75.0 (68.0–82.0) | |||||
| Time (months) between AF diagnosis and index date | ||||||||||
| Median (IQR) | 1.4 (0.4–12.2) | 2.0 (0.5–21.2) | 2.6 (0.5–35.5) | 2.6 (0.5–34.6) | 1.3 (0.4–7.9) | |||||
| History of stroke risk factors (n, %) | ||||||||||
| Stroke or transient ischaemic attack | 2230 | 17.0% | 128 | 23.7% | 326 | 20.5% | 152 | 20.5% | 1624 | 15.9% |
| Congestive heart failure | 1550 | 11.8% | 56 | 10.4% | 173 | 10.9% | 58 | 7.8% | 1263 | 12.4% |
| Vascular disease | 3532 | 27.0% | 124 | 22.9% | 415 | 26.1% | 169 | 22.8% | 2824 | 27.6% |
| Hypertension | 8168 | 62.4% | 322 | 59.5% | 1031 | 64.9% | 423 | 57.1% | 6392 | 62.6% |
| Diabetes | 2469 | 18.9% | 96 | 17.7% | 302 | 19.0% | 121 | 16.3% | 1950 | 19.1% |
| CHA2DS2-VASc score at index date (n, %) | ||||||||||
| <2 | 1737 | 13.3% | 63 | 11.7% | 185 | 11.6% | 147 | 19.8% | 1342 | 13.1% |
| ≥2 | 11 352 | 86.7% | 478 | 88.4% | 1404 | 88.4% | 594 | 80.2% | 8876 | 86.9% |
| HAS-BLED score* at index date (n, %) | ||||||||||
| <3 | 3373 | 25.8% | 137 | 25.3% | 370 | 23.3% | 207 | 27.9% | 2659 | 26.0% |
| ≥3 | 9716 | 74.2% | 404 | 74.7% | 1219 | 76.7% | 534 | 72.1% | 7559 | 74.0% |
| History of other events (n, %) | ||||||||||
| Gastrointestinal ulceration | 655 | 5.0% | 26 | 4.8% | 74 | 4.7% | 35 | 4.7% | 520 | 5.1% |
| Gastrointestinal bleeding | 1312 | 10.0% | 65 | 12.0% | 148 | 9.3% | 64 | 8.6% | 1035 | 10.1% |
| Intracranial bleeding | 110 | 0.8% | 12 | 2.2% | 18 | 1.1% | 11 | 1.5% | 69 | 0.7% |
| Other bleeding† | 2669 | 20.4% | 120 | 22.2% | 300 | 18.9% | 149 | 20.1% | 2100 | 20.6% |
| Any bleeding† | 3594 | 27.5% | 171 | 31.6% | 413 | 26.0% | 205 | 27.7% | 2805 | 27.5% |
| Concomitant therapy‡ (n, %) | ||||||||||
| Antiplatelet | 2824 | 21.6% | 47 | 8.7% | 234 | 14.7% | 137 | 18.5% | 2406 | 23.6% |
| Aspirin | 2271 | 17.4% | 36 | 6.7% | 189 | 11.9% | 111 | 15.0% | 1935 | 18.9% |
| Other antiplatelet therapy§ | 740 | 5.7% | 14 | 2.6% | 66 | 4.2% | 34 | 4.6% | 626 | 6.1% |
| Antiarrhythmic | 925 | 7.1% | 43 | 8.0% | 111 | 7.0% | 67 | 9.0% | 704 | 6.9% |
| Beta-blocker | 8538 | 65.2% | 343 | 63.4% | 986 | 62.1% | 456 | 61.5% | 6753 | 66.1% |
| Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs | 309 | 2.4% | 21 | 3.9% | 42 | 2.6% | 31 | 4.2% | 215 | 2.1% |
| Statin | 6759 | 51.6% | 263 | 48.6% | 824 | 51.9% | 358 | 48.3% | 5314 | 52.0% |
| Antidiabetic agent | 1564 | 12.0% | 55 | 10.2% | 195 | 12.3% | 80 | 10.8% | 1234 | 12.1% |
| Antihypertensive agent | 11 733 | 89.6% | 461 | 85.2% | 1396 | 87.9% | 648 | 87.5% | 9228 | 90.3% |
| Proton pump inhibitor | 4693 | 35.9% | 195 | 36.0% | 570 | 35.9% | 245 | 33.1% | 3683 | 36.0% |
| Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor | 983 | 7.5% | 38 | 7.0% | 133 | 8.4% | 51 | 6.9% | 761 | 7.5% |
| Anticonvulsant enzymatic inducer | 122 | 0.9% | 5 | 0.9% | 18 | 1.1% | 6 | 0.8% | 93 | 0.9% |
Please note the following characteristics are not presented due to low numbers (<5) in one or more of the OAC cohorts: thromboembolism (n=38), liver disease (n=74), parenteral anticoagulants (n=161), rifampicin (n=1) and cytochrome P450 inhibitor (n=34).
*Labile international normalised ratio is also a component of the HAS-BLED score but was not included as there is incomplete international normalised ratio recording in CPRD. The HAS-BLED score therefore ranges from 0 to 8.
†Other bleeding includes intraocular, pericardial, urinary, intra-articular and lung bleedings. Any bleeding includes gastrointestinal, intracranial and other bleeding.
‡Concomitant therapy: prescribed on index date or within 3 months after index date.
§Other antiplatelet therapy includes abciximab, clopidogrel, dipyridamole, prasugrel, ticagrelor, ticlopidine and tirofiban.
CPRD, Clinical Practice Research Datalink; OAC, oral anticoagulants.