General practitioner confidence and practices in oral anticoagulant use for atrial fibrillation in Australia: findings from a cross-sectional study

Objectives To examine Australian General Practitioners’ (GPs) confidence in initiating oral anticoagulants (OACs) for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), and their practices for monitoring treatment adherence. Design Cross-sectional online survey. Setting GPs practising in metropolitan, regional and rural/remote locations in Australia. Participants 1765 Australian GPs recruited through professional GP networks. Primary and secondary outcome measures GPs’ self-reported confidence initiating OACs; practices monitoring patient adherence and persistence; and perceived barriers to adherence. Demographic data including clinical experience and geographic location were collected. χ 2 analyses were used to examine associations between the key outcome variables and GP location and clinical experience. Results Of 1765 respondents, 83.1% had practised for >10 years and 27.6% worked in regional or rural/remote areas. Overall, only 50.2% reported high confidence initiating OACs in patients with CHA 2 DS 2 -VA score ≥2 (a cumulative stroke risk score with a score of 1 for: congestive heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, vascular disease and age 65-74 years and 2 for: stroke/transient ischaemic attack, age ≥ 75 years). Unsurprisingly, confidence was higher among GPs with >10 years experience (51.5%) compared with 5–10 years (44.9%) and <5 years (43.2%) (p<0.01). Confidence was highest in rural/remote areas (73.2%) compared with regional (56.4%) and metropolitan areas (46.0%) (p<0.01). More GPs reported greater confidence initiating non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) (49.5%) than warfarin (6.2%) (p<0.01). Regional and rural/remote GPs, and those who had practised longer, were more likely to be confident with both NOACs and warfarin, while less experienced and metropolitan GPs showed stronger preference for NOACs. Only 76% reported monitoring adherence/persistence to OAC therapy. Reported barriers to patient adherence and persistence included low health literacy, medication concerns, cognitive impairment and lack of awareness of stroke risk. Conclusions Only half of GPs reported high confidence initiating OAC treatment, and approximately a quarter do not routinely monitor medication adherence or persistence. Targeted strategies to improve confidence and align practices with guideline recommendations are required. Appropriate education should be developed targeting the specific issues underlying lack of confidence in initiating OAC and the practice of referring newly diagnosed patients to cardiology. Further research into implementing systems for monitoring and improving adherence and persistence would be worthwhile in the context of these findings.