Anticoagulants' Use in Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation Patients and Bleeding Risks- A Patients' Perspective Study Regarding Safety and Efficacy of Anticoagulants

This study aimed to assess anticoagulants use and bleeding risks among non-valvular atrial fibril-lation patients. This study also determined the effect of demographic characteristics and comorbidities on the bleeding episodes among non-valvular atrial fibrillation patients. A retrospective, observational study was conducted on a cohort of non-valvular atrial fibrillation patients treated with different anticoagulants. We identified 201 patients treated with different anticoagulants like warfarin, dabigatran, rivaroxaban and apixaban. After adjusting confounders, major or clinically relevant bleeding episodes were observed. Overall, out of 201 non-valvular atrial fibrillation patients, patients on warfarin were (n = 53; 26.36%), apixaban (n = 41; 20.39%), rivaroxaban (n = 65; 32.33%), and dabigatran (n = 42; 20.89%), respectively. According to the results obtained, dabigatran 31%, rivaroxaban 30.8%, warfarin 26.4%, and apixaban 19.5% caused bleeding episodes among the studied cohort of the non-valvular atrial fibrillation patients. In addition, hypertension, ACS/CAD and thrombocytopenia were the pure predictors of bleeding episodes. Major bleeding sites were gastrointestinal and intracranial. All anticoagulants were safe but varied in number and intensity of bleeding episodes.