Table 1. Baseline Characteristics by Anticoagulant Type.
| Characteristic | Warfarin (n = 15 036) | NOACs (n = 4918) | No OACs (n = 121 357) | P Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient Characteristics | ||||
| Age, median (IQR), y | 77 (68-84) | 78 (70-84) | 68 (56-79) | <.001 |
| Women, No. (%) | 7042 (46.8) | 2436 (49.6) | 58 441 (48.2) | <.001 |
| Race/ethnicity, No. (%) | ||||
| Non-Hispanic white | 11 607 (77.3) | 3947 (80.3) | 73 022 (60.3) | <.001 |
| Non-Hispanic black | 1583 (10.5) | 446 (9.1) | 23 264 (19.2) | |
| Hispanic | 689 (4.6) | 213 (4.3) | 11 557 (9.5) | |
| Asian | 522 (3.5) | 137 (2.8) | 6303 (5.2) | |
| Other | 617 (4.1) | 172 (3.5) | 7001 (5.8) | |
| Insurance, No. (%) | ||||
| Private | 5590 (38.1) | 1900 (39.6) | 43 263 (38.8) | <.001 |
| Medicare | 7786 (53.1) | 2554 (53.2) | 46 701 (41.9) | |
| Medicaid | 1094 (7.5) | 305 (6.4) | 13 776 (12.4) | |
| Self-pay | 195 (1.3) | 44 (0.9) | 7658 (6.9) | |
| Medical history, No. (%) | ||||
| Atrial fibrillation or flutter | 10 006 (66.6) | 3801 (77.4) | 8669 (7.2) | <.001 |
| Previous stroke or TIA | 4996 (33.3) | 1781 (36.2) | 27 333 (22.8) | <.001 |
| CAD or myocardial infarction | 4786 (31.9) | 1479 (30.1) | 17 534 (14.6) | <.001 |
| Carotid stenosis | 353 (2.4) | 124 (2.5) | 1800 (1.5) | <.001 |
| Diabetes | 5082 (33.8) | 1539 (31.3) | 29 752 (24.8) | <.001 |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 1068 (7.1) | 288 (5.9) | 2819 (2.4) | <.001 |
| Hypertension | 12 132 (80.7) | 4071 (82.8) | 86 667 (72.3) | <.001 |
| Smoker | 1039 (6.9) | 331 (6.7) | 17 071 (14.2) | <.001 |
| Dyslipidemia | 7132 (47.5) | 2376 (48.4) | 38 261 (31.9) | <.001 |
| Heart failure | 2812 (18.7) | 763 (15.5) | 5932 (5.0) | <.001 |
| Drugs or alcohol abuse | 485 (3.2) | 148 (3.0) | 11 656 (9.7) | <.001 |
| Obesity or overweight | 3087 (20.5) | 936 (19.1) | 19 933 (16.6) | <.001 |
| Renal insufficiency | 2284 (15.2) | 495 (10.1) | 11 801 (9.7) | <.001 |
| Arrival and admission information, No. (%) | ||||
| EMS arrival | 7222 (48.0) | 2462 (50.1) | 55 964 (46.1) | <.001 |
| Transfer in | 5699 (37.9) | 1740 (35.4) | 44 557 (36.7) | |
| Arrived off hoursa | 7974 (53.0) | 2557 (52.0) | 64 240 (52.9) | .41 |
| NIHSS score at presentation, No. (%)b | ||||
| Median (IQR) | 9 (2-21) | 8 (2-20) | 8 (2-19) | <.001 |
| >21 | 2178 (23.4) | 690 (20.9) | 16 069 (20.7) | <.001 |
| 14-21 | 1474 (15.9) | 544 (16.4) | 12 946 (16.7) | |
| 8-13 | 1260 (13.6) | 466 (14.1) | 11 522 (14.9) | |
| 0-7 | 4389 (47.2) | 1608 (48.6) | 37 077 (47.8) | |
| Preadmission medication, No. (%) | ||||
| Antiplatelet agents | ||||
| Single | 4862 (32.3) | 1498 (30.5) | 33 225 (27.4) | |
| Dual | 397 (2.6) | 113 (2.3) | 5273 (4.4) | |
| Antihypertensive | 10 505 (83.1) | 3481 (84.1) | 52 550 (53.1) | <.001 |
| Cholesterol reducer | 8398 (56.0) | 2757 (56.2) | 37879 (31.8) | <.001 |
| Diabetic medications | 3259 (27.4) | 971 (25.0) | 16 024 (16.9) | <.001 |
| Vital signsc | ||||
| Heart rate, median (IQR), bpm | 80 (69-94) | 80 (69-93) | 81 (70-94) | .01 |
| Systolic blood pressure, median (IQR), mm Hg | 157 (137-180) | 158 (138-182) | 160 (140-186) | <.001 |
| Diastolic blood pressure, median (IQR), mm Hg | 84 (72-98) | 86 (72-100) | 87 (74-102) | <.001 |
| INR, median (IQR) | 2.2 (1.6-3.0) | 1.2 (1.1-1.4) | 1.0 (1.0-1.1) | <.001 |
| INR category (only warfarin-treated patients)d | ||||
| Subtherapeutic (<2) | 4361 (39.4) | NA | NA | |
| Therapeutic (2-3) | 4134 (37.3) | NA | NA | |
| Supratherapeutic (>3) | 2574 (23.3) | NA | NA | |
| Hospital Characteristics | ||||
| Bed size, median (IQR) | 438 (305-634) | 439 (315-635) | 443 (308-657) | <.001 |
| Academic center, No. (%) | 10804 (72.8) | 3366 (69.4) | 87513 (72.9) | <.001 |
| Primary stroke center, No. (%) | 5158 (34.3) | 1730 (35.2) | 42 999 (35.4) | .02 |
| Rural hospital, No. (%) | 460 (3.1) | 133 (2.7) | 3163 (2.6) | .006 |
Abbreviations: bpm, beats per minute; CAD, coronary artery disease; EMS, emergency medical services; IQR, interquartile range; INR, international normalized ratio; NA, not applicable; NIHSS, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; NOACs, non–vitamin K oral anticoagulants; OACs, oral anticoagulants; TIA, transient ischemic attack.
a
Arrival at the hospital that did not occur from Monday to Friday, 7 am to 6 pm.
b
NIHSS score at presentation was missing for 51 088 patients (36.2%). NIHSS ranges from 0 to 42 and a higher score indicates greater stroke severity.
c
Vital signs indicate first values on admission.
d
Among patients with the preceding use of warfarin, INR was missing for 3967 patients (26.4%).