Evolving landscape of stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation within the UK between 2012 and 2016: a cross-sectional analysis study using CPRD

Objective

To describe the changes in prescribing of oral anticoagulant (AC) and antiplatelet (AP) agents in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) in the UK and to identify the characteristics associated with deviation from guideline-based recommendations.

Design

Five cross-sectional analyses in a large retrospective population-based cohort study.

Setting

General practices contributing data to the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink.

Participants

The study included patients with a diagnosis of NVAF and eligible for anticoagulation (CHA₂DS₂-VASc score ≥2) on 1 April of 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 1st January 2016.

Results

The proportion of patients being treated with AC increased at each index date, showing an absolute rise of 16.7% over the study period. At the same time, the proportion of patients treated with an AP alone was reduced by half, showing an absolute decrease of 16.8%. The proportion of patients not receiving any antithrombotic (AT) treatment remained the same across the study period. A number of predictors were identified for AP alone or no treatment compared with AC treatment.

Conclusion

Major improvements in the AT management of patients with NVAF for stroke prevention in the UK were observed between April 2012 and January 2016. Despite this, nearly 20% of at-risk patients still received AP alone and over 15% were on no AT agents in January 2016.

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