Publications
Use and adherence to oral anticoagulants in a tertiary care hospital
Pradhyumna, M; Faruqui, Atiya Rehman; Joshi, Sunil S INTRODUCTION
Global burden of disease 2016 reported mortality rates for atrial fibrillation and venous thromboembolism as 1.7 and 9.4–32.3, respectively.[1]
Oral anticoagulants (OACs) are the mainstay in preventing thromboembolism; however, it is important to maintain adherence and persistence to these agents as it determines their efficacy and safety.[2,3,4]
For Vitamin K antagonists, the rates of nonadherence ranges between 22% and 58%.[5] Study involving novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs), higher proportion of rivaroxaban (72.7%) patients were found to be adherent compared to dabigatran (67.2%,P< 0.001) and apixaban (69.5%,P< 0.001). Moreover, rivaroxaban was associated with better treatment persistence than patients with warfarin.[6]
Adherence to prescribed anticoagulants predicts outcomes in patients. Several factors such as affordability, polypharmacy, socioeconomic status, and adverse reactions to the drug are known to significantly affect adherence.[7] Data on the use of warfarin and newer anticoagulants and their adherence in patients from India are very limited.
