Table 1.
Baseline characteristics and treatment follow-up
| Characteristics | Warfarin cohort (N = 317,337), reference |
Apixaban cohort (N = 363,823) |
P value | Dabigatran cohort (N = 57,121) |
P value | Rivaroxaban cohort (N = 282,831) |
P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 76.7 ± 9.3 | 75.1 ± 10.6 | < 0.001 | 73.4 ± 10.3 | < 0.001 | 73.5 ± 10.7 | < 0.001 |
| 18–54 | 5630 (1.8) | 13,780 (3.8) | < 0.001 | 2735 (4.8) | < 0.001 | 14,352 (5.1) | < 0.001 |
| 55–64 | 17,296 (5.5) | 35,915 (9.9) | < 0.001 | 6169 (10.8) | < 0.001 | 32,520 (11.5) | < 0.001 |
| 65–74 | 104,121 (32.8) | 117,039 (32.2) | < 0.001 | 21,238 (37.2) | < 0.001 | 100,054 (35.4) | < 0.001 |
| ≥ 75 | 190,290 (60.0) | 197,089 (54.2) | < 0.001 | 26,979 (47.2) | < 0.001 | 135,905 (48.1) | < 0.001 |
| Sexa | |||||||
| Male | 165,668 (52.2) | 188,252 (51.7) | < 0.001 | 32,309 (56.6) | < 0.001 | 156,327 (55.3) | < 0.001 |
| Female | 151,669 (47.8) | 175,570 (48.3) | < 0.001 | 24,812 (43.4) | < 0.001 | 126,503 (44.7) | < 0.001 |
| US geographic region | |||||||
| Northeast | 60,061 (18.9) | 60,877 (16.7) | < 0.001 | 11,430 (20.0) | < 0.001 | 50,509 (17.9) | < 0.001 |
| North central | 98,273 (31.0) | 81,283 (22.3) | < 0.001 | 13,225 (23.2) | < 0.001 | 68,069 (24.1) | < 0.001 |
| South | 98,706 (31.1) | 161,072 (44.3) | < 0.001 | 22,184 (38.8) | < 0.001 | 113,057 (40.0) | < 0.001 |
| West | 59,688 (18.8) | 60,182 (16.5) | < 0.001 | 10,148 (17.8) | < 0.001 | 50,634 (17.9) | < 0.001 |
| Other | 609 (0.2) | 409 (0.1) | < 0.001 | 134 (0.2) | 0.035 | 562 (0.2) | 0.552 |
| Baseline comorbidity | |||||||
| Deyo–Charlson Comorbidity Index | 3.4 ± 3.0 | 2.9 ± 2.8 | < 0.001 | 2.5 ± 2.5 | < 0.001 | 2.6 ± 2.6 | < 0.001 |
| CHA2DS2-VASc score | 4.5 ± 1.8 | 4.1 ± 1.9 | < 0.001 | 3.8 ± 1.9 | < 0.001 | 3.8 ± 1.9 | < 0.001 |
| HAS-BLED scoreb | 3.2 ± 1.4 | 3.0 ± 1.4 | < 0.001 | 2.8 ± 1.3 | < 0.001 | 2.9 ± 1.3 | < 0.001 |
| Bleeding history | 71,975 (22.7) | 63,850 (17.5) | < 0.001 | 9339 (16.3) | < 0.001 | 48,054 (17.0) | < 0.001 |
| Congestive heart failure | 108,185 (34.1) | 99,373 (27.3) | < 0.001 | 13,521 (23.7) | < 0.001 | 67,500 (23.9) | < 0.001 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 125,920 (39.7) | 125,450 (34.5) | < 0.001 | 19,679 (34.5) | < 0.001 | 94,611 (33.5) | < 0.001 |
| Hypertension | 270,847 (85.3) | 309,483 (85.1) | 0.001 | 47,463 (83.1) | < 0.001 | 235,415 (83.2) | < 0.001 |
| Renal disease | 88,114 (27.8) | 87,925 (24.2) | < 0.001 | 9026 (15.8) | < 0.001 | 49,075 (17.4) | < 0.001 |
| Liver disease | 17,539 (5.5) | 20,070 (5.5) | 0.850 | 2708 (4.7) | < 0.001 | 14,555 (5.1) | < 0.001 |
| Cancer | 46,240 (14.6) | 48,281 (13.3) | < 0.001 | 7391 (12.9) | < 0.001 | 37,374 (13.2) | < 0.001 |
| Myocardial infarction | 48,548 (15.3) | 46,891 (12.9) | < 0.001 | 5762 (10.1) | < 0.001 | 30,437 (10.8) | < 0.001 |
| Cardioversion and catheter ablations | 7739 (2.4) | 14,005 (3.8) | < 0.001 | 1905 (3.3) | < 0.001 | 9784 (3.5) | < 0.001 |
| Dyspepsia or stomach discomfort | 64,295 (20.3) | 67,744 (18.6) | < 0.001 | 9804 (17.2) | < 0.001 | 51,007 (18.0) | < 0.001 |
| Non-stroke/SE peripheral vascular disease | 86,342 (27.2) | 90,367 (24.8) | < 0.001 | 11,594 (20.3) | < 0.001 | 61,243 (21.7) | < 0.001 |
| Stroke/SE history | 48,714 (15.4) | 44,225 (12.2) | < 0.001 | 6209 (10.9) | < 0.001 | 27,976 (9.9) | < 0.001 |
| Transient ischemic attack | 29,861 (9.4) | 40,381 (11.1) | < 0.001 | 4814 (8.4) | < 0.001 | 22,912 (8.1) | < 0.001 |
| Anemia and coagulation defects | 108,463 (34.2) | 101,299 (27.8) | < 0.001 | 13,261 (23.2) | < 0.001 | 69,496 (24.6) | < 0.001 |
| Alcoholism | 4333 (1.4) | 7139 (2.0) | < 0.001 | 872 (1.5) | 0.003 | 5208 (1.8) | < 0.001 |
| Peripheral artery disease | 84,900 (26.8) | 83,434 (22.9) | < 0.001 | 11,176 (19.6) | < 0.001 | 58,338 (20.6) | < 0.001 |
| Coronary artery disease | 145,663 (45.9) | 155,696 (42.8) | < 0.001 | 22,774 (39.9) | < 0.001 | 111,304 (39.4) | < 0.001 |
| Baseline medication use | |||||||
| ACEI/ARB | 186,500 (58.8) | 218,361 (60.0) | < 0.001 | 33,813 (59.2) | 0.057 | 165,980 (58.7) | 0.504 |
| Amiodarone | 34,585 (10.9) | 40,772 (11.2) | < 0.001 | 5713 (10.0) | < 0.001 | 27,606 (9.8) | < 0.001 |
| β-blocker | 189,302 (59.7) | 224,582 (61.7) | < 0.001 | 33,939 (59.4) | 0.287 | 169,755 (60.0) | 0.004 |
| H2-receptor antagonist | 24,156 (7.6) | 26,202 (7.2) | < 0.001 | 3,548 (6.2) | < 0.001 | 18,177 (6.4) | < 0.001 |
| Proton pump inhibitor | 99,092 (31.2) | 112,992 (31.1) | 0.132 | 16,342 (28.6) | < 0.001 | 83,248 (29.4) | < 0.001 |
| Statin | 190,060 (59.9) | 221,106 (60.8) | < 0.001 | 32,954 (57.7) | < 0.001 | 162,231 (57.4) | < 0.001 |
| Antiplatelets | 57,262 (18.0) | 64,285 (17.7) | < 0.001 | 8992 (15.7) | < 0.001 | 45,541 (16.1) | < 0.001 |
| NSAIDs | 63,271 (19.9) | 86,806 (23.9) | < 0.001 | 13,453 (23.6) | < 0.001 | 70,583 (25.0) | < 0.001 |
| Dose of the index prescription | |||||||
| Standard dosec | 281,476 (77.4) | 48,219 (84.4) | 209,777 (74.2) | ||||
| Low dosed | 82,347 (22.6) | 8902 (15.6) | 73,054 (25.8) | ||||
Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation or N (%) unless otherwise indicated
ACEI angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, ARB angiotensin II receptor blocker, CHA2DS2-VASc congestive heart failure, hypertension, aged ≥75 years, diabetes mellitus, prior stroke or transient ischemic attack or thromboembolism, vascular disease, aged 65–74 years, sex category, HAS-BLED hypertension, abnormal renal or liver function, stroke, bleeding, labile international normalized ratios, elderly, drugs or alcohol, INR international normalized ratio, NSAIDs non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, SE systemic embolism
aSex was unknown for one patient in the apixaban cohort and another patient in the rivaroxaban cohort
bAs the INR value was not available in the databases, a modified HAS-BLED score was calculated with a range of 0–8
cStandard dose: apixaban 5 mg, dabigatran 150 mg, rivaroxaban 20 mg
dLower dose: apixaban 2.5 mg, dabigatran 75 mg, dabigatran 110 mg, rivaroxaban 10 mg, rivaroxaban 15 mg; 200 patients treated with dabigatran were prescribed dabigatran 110 mg, and 15,362 patients treated with rivaroxaban were prescribed rivaroxaban 10 mg