Comparison of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants and well-controlled warfarin in octogenarians with non-valvular atrial fibrillation: Real-world data from a single tertiary center

Abstract

Objective: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in clinical practice, and its prevalence increases with age. Nevertheless, data about the use of oral anticoagulants (OACs) among patients with >= 80 years remains limited. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) and warfarin in octogenarians with non-valvular AF (NVAF).

Methods: Medical records of 387 patients who were >= 80 years and diagnosed with NVAF in our hospital between January 2017 and December 2019 were evaluated retrospectively. Patients with NVAF were divided into 2 groups (NOACs and warfarin), and the incidence of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were analyzed.

Results: A total of 322 patients were included in the study. The median follow-up duration was 10.9 months for the NOACs group and 12.1 months for the warfarin group. The primary efficacy outcome was stroke/systemic embolism, and the primary safety outcome was major bleeding. A total of 220 patients were taking NOACs, and the most preferred NOACs were apixaban (53.6%), rivaroxaban (29.5%), dabigatran (13.2%), and edoxaban (3.6%) in this order. During a mean follow-up of 302.7 patient-years, the incidence of stroke or systemic embolic events was slightly higher among patients with warfarin but the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.862). The incidence rates of major bleeding events were similar between the treatment groups (p=0.824).

Conclusion: Our study revealed that the safety and efficacy outcomes are similar between the 2 treatment groups in octogenarians with NVAF.