Direct Oral Anticoagulant Use in Special Populations: Elderly, Obesity, and Renal Failure

Trends in Oral Anticoagulant Use and Individual Expenditures Across the United States from 2014 to 2020

BACKGROUND

Landmark clinical trials have expended the indications for the direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), but contemporary data on usage and expenditure patterns are lacking.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to assess annual trends in oral anticoagulant (OAC) utilization and expenditure across the United States (US) from 2014 to 2020.

METHODS

We utilized the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to study the trends of use and expenditures of warfarin, dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban, and edoxaban between 2014 and 2020 in the US. Survey respondents reported OAC use within the past year, which was verified against pharmacy records. Payment information was obtained from the respondent's pharmacy and was categorized as third-party or self/out-of-pocket. Potential indications and medical conditions of interest for OAC therapy were identified from respondent-reported medical conditions. We estimated the national number of OAC users and total expenditures across age, sex, race, ethnicity, insurance, and medical condition subgroups. Trends of OAC users' characteristics, expenditure, and number of prescriptions were evaluated using the Mann-Kendall test for trends.

RESULTS

Between 2014 and 2020, the number of warfarin users decreased from 3.8 million (70% of all OAC users) to 2.2 million (p = 0.007) [29% of all OAC users], while the number of DOAC users increased from 1.6 million (30% of all OAC users) to 5.4 million (p = 0.003) [70% of all OAC users]. The total expenditure of OACs in the US increased from $3.4 billion in 2014 to $17.8 billion in 2020 (p = 0.003), which was driven by the increase in DOAC expenditures (p = 0.003).

CONCLUSIONS

DOACs have replaced warfarin as the preferred OAC in the US. The increased costs associated with DOAC use may decline when generic formulations are approved.

Comparing AGS Beers 2019, STOPP version 2, and EU(7)-PIM list in Portuguese older adults in primary health care

PURPOSE

This study aims to identify PIM prevalence in older adults according to the 2019 Beers criteria, Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions version 2 (STOPP v2) criteria, and the Portuguese EU(7)-PIM list and also to analyze the concordance between these criteria.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted among 1200 Portuguese older adults (≥ 65 years old), users of primary health care. Demographic, clinical, and pharmacological data were collected concerning the period between April 2021 and August 2022. A comparative analysis was performed between the three PIM identification criteria, and the concordance was determined according to the Lin concordance correlation coefficient.

RESULTS

The mean age was 76.3 (SD 7.7) years old and 57.6% of the older adults were females. Our findings indicate varying prevalence rates among these criteria with 63.8% (95% CI 61.0-66.6%), 66.8% (95% CI 64.1-69.5%), and 50.1% (95% CI 47.2-53.0%) of the older adults take at least one PIM according to the EU(7)-PIM list, Beers 2019, and STOPP v2 criteria, respectively. The highest prevalence observed was for proton pump inhibitors according to EU(7)-PIM list (30.1%, 95% CI 27.6-32.9) and Beers criteria (30.1%, 95% CI 27.6-32.9) and alprazolam according to STOPP v2 criteria (10.1%, 95% CI 8.4-11.9%). A poor concordance between criteria was observed (< 0.834). The highest concordance coefficient was found between the EU(7)-PIM list and the Beers criteria (0.833), and the lowest between the EU(7)-PIM list and STOPP criteria (0.735).

CONCLUSION

This study reveals varying prevalence rates of PIM in older adults, as assessed by different criteria, and highlights the need for targeted interventions and improved prescribing practices. In the future, studies should focus on the occurrence of negative outcomes in older adults associated with PIM consumption.

Antiplatelets and Anticoagulants in Vitreoretinal Surgery: A Systematic Review

Background: Antiplatelets and anticoagulants have substantially influenced contemporary vitreoretinal surgical practices. The availability of new oral blood thinners has recently spurred a renewed interest in the clinical approach to vitreoretinal surgical conditions since it may be difficult for the surgeon to collect sufficient evidence-based data to decide whether to discontinue or continue such medications. Materials and Methods: We conducted a systematic review on the use of antiplatelets and/or anticoagulants in the perioperative setting in vitreoretinal surgery and their possible complications, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The level of evidence, according to the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (OCEM) 2011 guidelines, and the quality of evidence, according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system, were assessed for all included articles. Results: In total, 2310 articles were initially extracted, out of which 1839 articles were obtained after duplicates were removed and their abstracts were screened. A total of 27 articles were included in the full-text review. Finally, a remaining 22 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Conclusions: Even though there is just a small number of studies with solid results, the advantage of using antiplatelets and/or anticoagulants in vitreoretinal surgery seems to outweigh the disadvantages, which are mainly related to postoperative hemorrhagic complications.

Management of Gastrointestinal Bleeding and Resumption of Oral Anticoagulant Therapy in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: A Multidisciplinary Discussion

Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are recommended for the prevention of thromboembolism in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), and are now preferred over vitamin K antagonists due to their beneficial efficacy and safety profile. However, all oral anticoagulants carry a risk of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Although the risk is well documented and acute bleeding well codified, there is limited high-quality evidence and no guidelines to guide physicians on the optimal management of anticoagulation after a GI bleeding event. The aim of this review is to provide a multidisciplinary critical discussion of the optimal management of GI bleeding in patients with AF receiving oral anticoagulants to help physicians provide individualized treatment for each patient and optimize outcomes. It is important to perform endoscopy when a patient presents with bleeding manifestations or hemodynamic instability to determine the bleed location and severity of bleeding and then perform initial resuscitation. Administration of all anticoagulants and antiplatelets should be stopped and bleeding allowed to resolve with time; however, anticoagulant reversal should be considered for patients who have life-threatening bleeding or when the bleeding is not controlled by the initial resuscitation. Anticoagulation needs to be timely resumed considering that bleeding risk outweighs thrombotic risk when anticoagulation is resumed early after the bleeding event. To prevent further bleeding, physicians should prescribe anticoagulant therapy with the lowest risk of GI bleeding, avoid medications with GI toxicity, and consider the effect of concomitant medications on potentiating the bleeding risk.

Impact of multimorbidity on mortality in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: which comorbidities matter most? An analysis of PARADIGM-HF and ATMOSPHERE

AIMS

Multimorbidity, the coexistence of two or more chronic conditions, is synonymous with heart failure (HF). How risk related to comorbidities compares at individual and population levels is unknown. The aim of this study is to examine the risk related to comorbidities, alone and in combination, both at individual and population levels.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Using two clinical trials in HF - the Prospective comparison of ARNI (Angiotensin Receptor-Neprilysin Inhibitor) with ACEI (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor) to Determine Impact on Global Mortality and morbidity in HF trial (PARADIGM-HF) and the Aliskiren Trial to Minimize Outcomes in Patients with Heart Failure trials (ATMOSPHERE) - we identified the 10 most common comorbidities and examined 45 possible pairs. We calculated population attributable fractions (PAF) for all-cause death and relative excess risk due to interaction with Cox proportional hazard models. Of 15 066 patients in the study, 14 133 (93.7%) had at least one and 11 867 (78.8%) had at least two of the 10 most prevalent comorbidities. The greatest individual risk among pairs was associated with peripheral artery disease (PAD) in combination with stroke (hazard ratio [HR] 1.73; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.28-2.33) and anaemia (HR 1.71; 95% CI 1.39-2.11). The combination of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and hypertension had the highest PAF (5.65%; 95% CI 3.66-7.61). Two pairs demonstrated significant synergistic interaction (atrial fibrillation with CKD and coronary artery disease, respectively) and one an antagonistic interaction (anaemia and obesity).

CONCLUSIONS

In HF, the impact of multimorbidity differed at the individual patient and population level, depending on the prevalence of and the risk related to each comorbidity, and the interaction between individual comorbidities. Patients with coexistent PAD and stroke were at greatest individual risk whereas, from a population perspective, coexistent CKD and hypertension mattered most.

Challenges and Possible Solutions to Direct-Acting Oral Anticoagulants (DOACs) Dosing in Patients with Extreme Bodyweight and Renal Impairment

This article aims to highlight the dosing issues of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in patients with renal impairment and/or obesity in an attempt to develop solutions employing advanced data-driven techniques. DOACs have become widely accepted by clinicians worldwide because of their superior clinical profiles, more predictable pharmacokinetics, and hence more convenient dosing relative to other anticoagulants. However, the optimal dosing of DOACs in extreme bodyweight  patients and patients with renal impairment is difficult to achieve using the conventional dosing approach. The standard dosing approach (fixed-dose) is based on limited data from clinical studies. The existing formulae (models) for determining the appropriate doses for these patient groups leads to suboptimal dosing. This problem of mis-dosing is worsened by the lack of standardized laboratory parameters for monitoring the exposure to DOACs in renal failure and extreme bodyweight patients. Model-informed precision dosing (MIPD) encompasses a range of techniques like machine learning and pharmacometrics modelling, which could uncover key variables and relationships as well as shed more light on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of DOACs in patients with extreme bodyweight or renal impairment. Ultimately, this individualized approach-if implemented in clinical practice-could optimise dosing for the DOACs for better safety and efficacy.

Real world data of anticoagulant treatment in non-valvular atrial fibrillation across renal function status

The objective is to assess the impact of anticoagulant treatment in non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) and different categories of renal dysfunction in real world. Electronic Health recordings of patients with diagnosis of AF and renal function collected throughout 5 years and classified according to KDIGO categories. Stroke, transitory ischemic attack (TIA), intracranial hemorrhage and all-cause mortality were identified. Anticoagulant treatments during the study period were classified in untreated (never received therapy), VKA, NOAC and Aspirin. The risk of events was calculated by Cox-proportional hazard models adjusted by confounders. A total of 65,734 patients with AF, mean age 73.3 ± 10.49 years old and 47% females and follow-up of 3.2 years were included. KDIGO classification were: G1 33,903 (51.6%), G2 17,456 (26.6%), G3 8024 (12.2%) and G4 6351 (9.7%). There were 8592 cases of stroke and TIA, 437 intracranial hemorrhage, and 9603 all-cause deaths (incidence 36, 2 and 38 per 10³ person/year, respectively). 4.1% of patients with CHA2DS2-VASc Score 2 or higher did not receive anticoagulant therapy. Risk of stroke, TIA, and all-cause mortality increased from G1 to G4 groups. Anticoagulant treatments reduced the risk of events in the four categories, but NOAC seemed to offer significantly better protection. Renal dysfunction increases the risk of events in AF and anticoagulant treatments reduced the risk of stroke and all-cause mortality, although NOAC were better than VKA. Efforts should be done to reduce the variability in the use of anticoagulants even in this high risk group.