Aim: To evaluate antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients in Italy with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) before and after direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) were approved.
Methods: This analysis included patients with a discharge diagnosis of NVAF in 2010 and 2014, which constituted the pre- and post-DOACs populations, respectively.
Results: Approximately 90% of patients were eligible for oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy. Overall use of OACs increased from 38% in 2010 to 45% in 2014; use of antiplatelet therapy decreased from 36 to 25%. Approximately 14% of eligible patients remained untreated.
Conclusion: Although an improvement in OAC prescription was observed post-DOACs launch, treatment patterns in Italy suggest that a proportion of patients with NVAF are still undertreated or do not receive appropriate therapy.
Keywords: OAC prescription; antithrombotic treatment patterns; direct oral anticoagulants; nonvalvular atrial fibrillation; real-world data.