Table 1.
Comparison of clinical characteristics between atrial fibrillation patients compliant with and without the atrial fibrillation Better Care (ABC) pathway.
| Non-ABC (n = 182,032) |
ABC (n = 45,994) |
p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 64 (55–71) | 49 (41–57) | <0.001 |
| Female | 70,218 (38.6) | 18,016 (39.2) | 0.019 |
| Economic status | 12 (5,17) | 13 (6,17) | <0.001 |
| CHA2DS2-VASc score | 2 (1, 3) | 0 (0, 1) | <0.001 |
| mHAS-BLED score * | 2 (1, 3) | 0 (0, 1) | <0.001 |
| Charlson comorbidity index | 3 (1, 4) | 1 (0, 2) | <0.001 |
| Heart failure | 41,557 (22.8) | 627 (1.4) | <0.001 |
| Hypertension | 117,688 (64.7) | 2425 (5.3) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes | 35,819 (19.7) | 807 (1.8) | <0.001 |
| Myocardial infarction | 12,838 (7.1) | 157 (0.3) | <0.001 |
| Vascular disease | 27,489 (15.1) | 383 (0.8) | <0.001 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 6089 (3.3) | 358 (0.8) | <0.001 |
| Liver disease | 70,974 (39.0) | 13,365 (29.1) | <0.001 |
| Malignancy | 36,768 (20.2) | 6876 (14.9) | <0.001 |
| Hyperthyroidism | 16,121 (8.9) | 3498 (7.6) | <0.001 |
| Hypothyroidism | 13,870 (7.6) | 2629 (5.7) | <0.001 |
| COPD | 23,033 (12.7) | 1735 (3.8) | <0.001 |
| History of bleeding | 12,525 (6.9) | 1667 (3.6) | <0.001 |
| Medication | |||
| Oral anticoagulants (Baseline) | 5822 (3.2) | 1166 (2.5) | <0.001 |
| Oral anticoagulants (Follow-up) | 46,569 (25.6) | 7705 (16.8) | <0.001 |
| Antiplatelet agents | 68,141 (37.4) | 2339 (5.1) | <0.001 |
| Beta blocker | 59,148 (32.5) | 2794 (6.1) | <0.001 |
| Statin | 44,226 (24.3) | 2791 (6.1) | <0.001 |
| Calcium channel blocker | 69,697 (38.3) | 1664 (3.6) | <0.001 |
| ACE-inhibitor/ARB | 66,533 (36.6) | 1605 (3.5) | <0.001 |
| Antiarrhythmic drugs † | 7087 (3.9) | 544 (1.2) | <0.001 |
ABC = atrial fibrillation Better Care, ACE = angiotensin converting enzyme, AF = atrial fibrillation, ARB = angiotensin II receptor blocker, COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. * Modified HASBLED = hypertension, 1 point; >65 years old, 1 point; stroke history, 1 point; bleeding history or predisposition, 1 point; liable international normalized ratio, not assessed; ethanol or drug abuse, 1 point; drug predisposing to bleeding, 1 point. † Antiarrhythmic drugs included class Ic arrhythmic drugs (e.g., flecainide, propafenone, pilsicainide), and class III drugs (e.g., sotalol, dronedarone, amiodarone). Values are presented as numbers (%) or median (Q1, Q3, quartiles (25th and 75th percentiles)).