Table 1. Patient Characteristics by Anticoagulant Therapy Status Prior to Stroke.
| Taking NOACs (n = 2207) | Not taking anticoagulants (n = 160 831) | Absolute standardized differencea | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic characteristics | |||
| Age, median (IQR), y | 75 (64-82) | 70 (58-81) | 26.8 |
| Sex, No. (%) | |||
| Male | 1186 (53.7) | 81 857 (50.9) | 5.7 |
| Female | 1021 (46.3) | 78 974 (49.1) | |
| Race and ethnicity, No. (%) | (n = 160 803) | ||
| Asian | 76 (3.4) | 4777 (3.0) | 2.7 |
| Hispanic | 196 (8.9) | 12 935 (8.0) | 3.0 |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 342 (15.5) | 25 980 (16.2) | 1.8 |
| Non-Hispanic White | 1488 (67.4) | 110 265 (68.6) | 2.5 |
| Otherb | 105 (4.8) | 6846 (4.3) | 2.4 |
| Health insurance status, No. (%) | (n = 2100) | (n = 150 348) | |
| Medicare | 1082 (51.5) | 65 907 (43.8) | 15.4 |
| Private | 745 (35.5) | 61 535 (40.9) | 11.2 |
| Medicaid | 222 (10.6) | 15 274 (10.2) | 1.4 |
| Self-pay or no insurance | 43 (2.0) | 6977 (4.6) | 14.5 |
| Not documented | 8 (0.4) | 655 (0.4) | 0.9 |
| Clinical characteristics | |||
| Year of stroke admission, No. (%) | |||
| 2015 | 201 (9.1) | 19 244 (12.0) | 9.3 |
| 2016 | 340 (15.4) | 29 574 (18.4) | 8.0 |
| 2017 | 419 (19.0) | 32 903 (20.5) | 3.7 |
| 2018 | 547 (24.8) | 35 642 (22.2) | 6.2 |
| 2019 | 617 (28.0) | 38 205 (23.8) | 9.6 |
| 2020 | 83 (3.8) | 5263 (3.3) | 2.7 |
| Medical history, No. (%) | |||
| Atrial fibrillation or flutter | 1614 (73.1) | 23 458 (14.6) | 146.1 |
| Coronary artery disease or prior MI | 624 (28.3) | 34 823 (21.7) | 15.4 |
| Heart failure | 421 (19.1) | 13 801 (8.6) | 30.8 |
| Prior stroke | 628 (28.5) | 32 825 (20.4) | 18.8 |
| Prior transient ischemic attack | 214 (9.7) | 14 525 (9.0) | 2.3 |
| Prosthetic heart valve | 21 (1.0) | 1231 (0.8) | 2.0 |
| Carotid stenosis | 58 (2.6) | 4385 (2.7) | 0.6 |
| Diabetes | 719 (32.6) | 46 926 (29.2) | 7.4 |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 75 (3.4) | 5128 (3.2) | 1.2 |
| Hypertension | 1753 (79.4) | 115 623 (71.9) | 17.6 |
| Smoker | 242 (11.0) | 29 045 (18.1) | 20.2 |
| Dyslipidemia | 1099 (49.8) | 72 112 (44.8) | 10.0 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 169 (7.7) | 11 830 (7.4) | 1.2 |
| Medication history, No. (%) | |||
| Any antiplatelets | 769 (34.8) | 73 319 (45.6) | 22.0 |
| Single antiplatelet | 707 (32.0) | 61 602 (38.3) | 13.2 |
| Aspirin | 691 (31.3) | 65 007 (40.4) | 19.1 |
| Clopidogrel | 132 (6.0) | 17 750 (11.0) | 18.2 |
| Ticagrelor | 2 (0.1) | 442 (0.3) | 4.3 |
| Prasugrel | 3 (0.1) | 170 (0.1) | 0.9 |
| Aspirin with dipyridamole | 1 (<0.1) | 835 (0.5) | 8.9 |
| Dual antiplatelet | 61 (2.8) | 11 590 (7.2) | 20.5 |
| Antihypertensives | 1560 (70.7) | 83 665 (52.0) | 39.1 |
| Cholesterol reducers | 1362 (61.7) | 68 844 (42.8) | 38.6 |
| Any diabetes medication | 471 (21.3) | 28 717 (17.9) | 8.8 |
| National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, median (IQR)c | 10 (5-17) | 7 (4-14) | 25.7 |
| Ambulatory status prior to hospital admission, No. (%) | (n = 1598) | (n = 115 953) | |
| Able to ambulate independently | 1490 (93.2) | 108 891 (93.9) | 2.7 |
| Requires assistance from person | 66 (4.1) | 4392 (3.8) | 1.8 |
| Unable to ambulate | 42 (2.6) | 2670 (2.3) | 2.1 |
| Ambulatory status at admission, No. (%) | (n = 1244) | (n = 83 025) | |
| Able to ambulate independently | 336 (27.0) | 26 740 (32.2) | 11.4 |
| Requires assistance from person | 335 (26.9) | 23 635 (28.5) | 3.4 |
| Unable to ambulate | 573 (46.1) | 32 650 (39.3) | 13.7 |
| Hospital arrival, No. (%) | |||
| By emergency medical services | 1746 (79.1) | 120 840 (75.1) | 9.5 |
| During off-hours | 1185 (53.7) | 85 406 (53.1) | 1.2 |
| Body mass index, median (IQR)d | 28.1 (24.3-33.3) | 28.0 (24.3-32.4) | 9.0 |
| Blood pressure, median (IQR), mm Hg | |||
| Systolic | 154 (136-173) | 156 (138-176) | 7.0 |
| Diastolic | 88 (75-100) | 85 (74-97) | 8.2 |
| Heart rate, median (IQR), /min | 82 (70-96) | 80 (70-92) | 11.7 |
| Blood glucose, median (IQR), mg/dL | 122 (103-153) | 119 (102-151) | 0.4 |
| International normalized ratio, median (IQR) | 1.1 (1.0-1.2) | 1.0 (1.0-1.1) | 47.6 |
| Serum creatinine, median (IQR), mg/dL | 1.0 (0.8-1.3) | 1.0 (0.8-1.2) | 0.7 |
Abbreviations: MI, myocardial infarction; NOACs, non–vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants.
SI conversion factors: To convert creatinine to μmol/L, multiply by 88.4; glucose to mmol/L, multiply by 0.0555.
a
Calculated as the difference in means or proportions divided by a pooled estimate of the SD and multiplied by 100.
b
Includes American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, multiracial, or any other non-Black or non-White racial categories.
c
A measure of stroke severity with scores ranging from 0-42; a higher score indicates greater stroke severity.
d
Calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared.