Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the study cohort; comparison between incident cases first prescribed VKAs to those first prescribed NOACs
| Incident cases 2012–2015: First treatment prescribed after diagnosis (N = 4559) | p-value | Prevalent patients* | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VKA N = 2338 % (n) |
NOACs N = 2221 % (n) |
VKA N = 5259 % (n) |
||
|
Years from NVAF diagnosis to 1/1/2012 Median (IQR) |
7.59 (5; 9.5) |
|||
| Age (years), Mean (SD) | 70.8 (10.7) | 72.8 (11.4) | < 0.001 | 74.5 (9.7) |
| Median (IQR) |
71.6 (64.2; 78.7) |
74.4 (65.9; 80.8) |
75.2 (68.2; 81.6) |
|
| Female sex | 43.3% (1012) | 46.5% (1033) | 0.031 | 45.7% (2402) |
| Immigration ≥ 1990 | 40.5% (946) | 28.0% (622) | < 0.001 | 38.7% (2036) |
| SES score, Mean (SD) | 5.74 (1.75) | 6.44 (1.85) | < 0.001 | 5.93 (1.78) |
| Median (IQR) | 6 (5; 7) | 6 (5; 8) | 6 (5; 7) | |
| District | ||||
| North | 18.3% (429) | 18.5% (410) | < 0.001 | 18.3% (960) |
| Sharon | 17.3% (405) | 18.7% (416) | 17.6% (924) | |
| South | 20.6% (481) | 14.4% (320) | 19.9% (1049) | |
| Center | 19.2% (448) | 27.2% (604) | 20.0% (1051) | |
| Jerusalem/ Hashfela | 24.6% (575) | 21.2% (471) | 24.2% (1275) | |
|
CHADS2 score Mean (SD), Median (IQR) |
1.80 (1.17) 2 (1; 2) |
2.03 (1.32) 2 (1; 3) |
< 0.001 |
2.42 (1.30) 2 (2;3) |
| CHADS2 risk levels | ||||
| 0 | 11.8% (276) | 12.0% (266) | < 0.001 | 4.4% (234) |
| 1 | 30.3% (709) | 24.8% (550) | 19.9% (1046) | |
| ≥ 2 | 57.9% (1353) | 63.3% (1405) | 75.7% (3979) | |
| CHA2DS2 VASC score Mean (SD) | 3.27 (1.70) | 3.67 (1.88) | < 0.001 | 4.01 (1.66) |
| Median (IQR) | 3 (2; 4) | 4 (2; 5) | 4 (3; 5) | |
| Baseline comorbidity | ||||
| Congestive heart failure | 9.0% (211) | 9.0% (199) | 0.98 | 25.9% (1363) |
| Ischemic heart disease | 24.9% (582) | 28.6% (636) | 0.005 | 39.2% (2060) |
| Myocardial infarction | 12.4% (289) | 12.1% (268) | 0.796 | 15.0% (790) |
| Cerebrovascular accident | 8.0% (188) | 12.1% (268) | < 0.001 | 15.9% (838) |
| Transient ischemic attack | 4.3% (100) | 5.9% (132) | 0.013 | 8.2% (431) |
| Peripheral arterial disease | 5.6% (131) | 5.2% (115) | 0.569 | 9.0% (472) |
| Chronic kidney disease | 33.4% (782) | 37.1% (824) | 0.011 | 50.0% (2628) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 33.0% (771) | 36.6% (813) | 0.011 | 38.5% (2025)) |
| Hyperlipidemia | 80.0% (1871) | 84.7% (1882) | < 0.001 | 88.5% (4654) |
| Hypertension | 78.4% (1834) | 78.7% (1747) | 0.888 | 86.1% (4530) |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 2.7% ( 62) | 2.9% ( 65) | 0.636 | 3.3% (172) |
| Concomitant medications** | ||||
| ACE inhibitors | 26.8% (627) | 26.7% (594) | 0.982 | 37.7% (1983) |
| ARBs | 24.3% (568) | 28.5% (634) | 0.001 | 61.5% (3232) |
| Beta blockers | 38.5% (901) | 38.7% (859) | 0.947 | 10.1% (533) |
| Ca channel blockers | 33.2% (777) | 33.9% (753) | 0.654 | 49.6% (2611) |
| Diuretics | 29.2% (682) | 29.3% (651) | 0.943 | 5.2% (274) |
| Nitrates | 2.8% ( 65) | 3.0% ( 67) | 0.698 | 0.1% ( 4) |
| Aspirin | 40.7% (951) | 42.0% (932) | 0.394 | 21.3% (1122) |
| Other Antiplatelets | 6.8% (160) | 12.1% (268) | < 0.001 | 1.6% ( 84) |
*At least 2 dispenses in 120 days prior 1-JAN-2012. The status of all time-dependent parameters is shown for 01/01/2012
VKA vitamin K antagonists, NOAC new oral anticoagulants, SES socioeconomic status, ACE angiotensin converting enzyme, ARB angiotensin receptor blocker, SD standard deviation, CHADS congestive heart failure, hypertension, age > 75, diabetes mellitus, stroke/transient ischemic event; scale of 0 (lowest risk) to 6 (highest risk). CHA2DS2-VASc: Congestive heart failure, hypertension, age, diabetes mellitus, stroke/transient ischemic event, sex, vascular disease history; scale of 0 (lowest risk) to 9 (highest risk)
Bold means statistically significant, i.e. p < 0.05