Characterization and anticoagulation treatment patterns of hospitalized patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation in Spain: The CARISMA registry

Background: This study described the clinical and demographic characteristics of hospitalized patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) and prescriptions for vitamin-K antagonists (VKA) and direct-acting oral anticoagulants (DOAC) in Spain. Methods: This was an observational, multicentric, retrospective study of patients treated with DOAC or VKA due to NVAF at cardiology services of hospitals in Spain. A registry (CARISMA) included patients hospitalized for any reason and discharged before July 1st, 2021, with a prescription for DOAC or VKA. Data was collected on demographic and clinical characteristics and anticoagulant treatments prescribed. Analyses were descriptive. Results: -VASc score was 4.0 (1.6). Prior to admission, 75.6 % of patients had been prescribed anticoagulant treatment for NVAF. Of these, 56.0 % had received VKA and 44.0 % DOAC. At discharge, 60 % had a DOAC prescription (of these, apixaban, 37.6 %; edoxaban, 26.4 %; rivaroxaban, 25.1 %; dabigatran, 10.9 %) and 40 % a VKA. DOAC prescriptions were off-label with respect to dosing in 19-34 % of cases. Patients with off-label dosing were older and with a higher proportion of women than those with on-label doses. During hospitalization, 12.1 % of patients changed treatment, usually VKA to DOAC. Conclusion: Before hospitalization, a quarter of patients with NVAF were not receiving anticoagulation medication. Hospitalization increased the proportion of patients receiving DOAC, but about a quarter of patients had off-label dosing prescriptions.