Impact of findings on practice
-
Long-term use of NOACs increased markedly in outpatients from 2008 to 2013.
-
Substantial number of patients had potentially harmful combinations of antithrombotic drugs.
-
Adherence to NOACs determined from dispensing data may be suboptimal to prevent thrombotic events.
Introduction
Aim of the study
Ethical approval
Methods
Setting
Study design
Inclusion criteria
Measures
Statistical analysis
Results
NOAC | VKA | APA | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Short-term users | Long-term users | All drug users | All drug users | |
Number of users | 10,794 | 14,727 | 416,104 | 1128,782 |
Male (%) | 4560 (42.2) | 8828 (59.9) | 226,965 (54.5) | 633,323 (56.1) |
Mean age (±SDa) | 69.1 (±10.6) | 71.2 (±10.5) | 73.5 (±13.2) | 70.6 (±12.5) |
First dispensing (%) | 9915 (91.9) | 8796 (59.7) | nab
| 287,439 (25.5) |
Cessation (%) | 6101 (56.5) | 2463 (16.7) | 120,176 (28.9) | 182,475 (16.2) |
Medical specialist as first prescriber of drug (%) | 10,403 96.4) | 14,376(97.6) | nab
| 29,216 (2.6) |
Cardiac co-medication | ||||
Antiarrhythmics I/III (%) | 359 (3.33) | 2311 (15.7) | 32,538 (7.8) | 16,914 (1.5) |
Statins (%) | 1710 (15.8) | 5455 (37.0) | 163,789 (39.9) | 674,613 (59.8) |
Beta blockers (%) | 2054 (19.0) | 9218 (62.6) | 227,432 (54.7) | 509,047 (45.1) |
Calcium channel antagonists (%) | 972 (9.0) | 3400 (23.1) | 84,018 (20.2) | 249,964 (22.1) |
Thiazides (%) | 711 (6.6) | 1517 (10.3) | 38,739 (9.3) | 131,118 (11.6) |
Loop diuretics (%) | 394 (3.7) | 2060 (14.0) | 106,278 (25.5) | 104,598 (9.3) |
AAS inhibitors (%) | 2161 (20.0) | 7638 (51.9) | 204,468 (49.1) | 550,102 (48.7) |
Concomitant use of loop diuretics and RAAS inhibitors (%) | 424 (3.9) | 1904 (12,9) | 91,563 (22.0) | 94,630 (8.4) |
Aldosterone antagonists (%) | 142 (1.3) | 738 (5.0) | 39,724 (9.6) | 34,445 (3.1) |
Digoxin (%) | 188 (1.7) | 1767 (12.0) | 61,884 (14.9) | 13,436 (1.2) |
Two consecutive nitrate dispensings (%) | 189 (1.78) | 701 (4.76) | 33,409 (8.03) | 102,686 (9.10) |
Non-cardiac co-medications | ||||
Blood glucose lowering agents (%) | 704 (6.5) | 2025 (13.8) | 72,517 (17.4) | 214,806 (19.0) |
Antipsychotics (%) | 622 (5.8) | 1344 (9.1) | 51,665 (12.4) | 133,602 (11.8) |
Drugs for acid-related disorders (%) | 1942 (18.0) | 4911 (33.3) | 147,229 (35.4) | 488,212 (43.3) |
Drugs for asthma or COPD (%) | 724 (6.7) | 1830 (12,4) | 66,947 (16.1) | 155,822 (13.8) |
Drugs for rheumatoid arthritis (%) | 108 (1,0) | 172 (1.2) | 6759 (1.6) | 16,799 (1.5) |
Antidepressants (%) | 456 (4.2) | 831 (5.6) | 30,157 (7.3) | 98,964 (8.8) |
Antithyroid drugs (%) | 396 (3.7) | 787 (5.3) | 26,372 (6.3) | 63,605 (5.6) |
2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Concomitant users of NOAC and VKAb
| 0 | 23 | 27 | 32.9 | 760 | 820 |
Concomitant usersa of NOAC and ASA | 0 | 7 | 13 | 19.5 | 248 | 446 |
Concomitant usersa of NOAC and clopidogrel/prasugrel | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 81 | 149 |
Concomitant usersa of ASA and VKAb
| 11,738 | 12,300 | 12,927 | 12,862 | 12,559 | 11,207 |
Concomitant usersa of clopidogrel/prasugrel and VKAb
| 4737 | 5444 | 6322 | 7106 | 6730 | 6822 |
Concomitant usersa of NOAC, ASA and clopidogrel/prasugrel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 13 |
Concomitant usersa of ASA, clopidogrel/prasugrel and VKAb
| 717 | 805 | 973 | 1088 | 1111 | 671 |
Switchers from NOAC to VKA | 0 | 50 | 127 | 170 | 946 | 1552 |
Switchers from VKA to NOAC | 0 | 304 | 120 | 305 | 3570 | 3502 |
Switchers from NOAC to APA | 0 | 284 | 777 | 978 | 2077 | 2139 |
Switchers from APA to NOAC | 1 | 456 | 797 | 1154 | 4078 | 4850 |
Switchers from VKA to APA | 33,828 | 37,364 | 39,348 | 40,755 | 40,803 | 38,471 |
Switchers from APA to VKA | 42,694 | 44,575 | 47,955 | 54,092 | 53,690 | 51,820 |
Total number of NOAC users | 18 | 3280 | 7287 | 9662 | 22,009 | 29,687 |
Total number of VKA users | 417,964 | 428,073 | 438,572 | 458,107 | 470,527 | 484,024 |
Total number of APA users | 1263,266 | 1287,046 | 1209,941 | 1335,651 | 1324,743 | 1313,032 |
Number of Dutch community pharmacies with available data (% of all community pharmacies) | 1415 (72.6) | 1530 (77.4) | 1557 (78.6) | 1637 (82.0) | 1720 (86.8) | 1697 (86.0) |
Total number of Dutch community pharmacies | 1948 (100) | 1976 (100) | 1980 (100) | 1997 (100) | 1981 (100) | 1974 (100) |
APAa
| Dabigatrana
| Rivaroxabana
| Apixabana
| |
---|---|---|---|---|
Daily use | Once | Twice | Once | Twice |
Mean adherence in PDC (±SD) |
87.3 % (21.5 %)
|
84.9 % (24.1 %)
|
82.1 % (27.7 %)
|
92.5 % (14.9 %)
|
Users with adherence >80% (adherent users) | 830,507 | 7183 | 3535 | 338 |
Total number of users | 1034,997 | 9473 | 4715 | 380 |
Percentage of adherent users within total number of users |
80.2
|
75.8
|
75.0
|
88.9
|