PMID- 20216987
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20101005
LR  - 20101007
IS  - 2567-689X (Electronic)
IS  - 0340-6245 (Linking)
VI  - 103
IP  - 5
DP  - 2010 May
TI  - A national survey of the management of atrial fibrillation with antithrombotic 
      drugs in Italian primary care.
PG  - 968-75
LID - 10.1160/TH09-08-0525 [doi]
AB  - The aims of this study were to investigate trends in the incidence of diagnosed 
      atrial fibrillation (AF), and to identify factors associated with the 
      prescription of antithrombotics (ATs) and to identify the persistence of patients 
      with oral anticoagulant (OAC) treatment in primary care. Data were obtained from 
      400 Italian primary care physicians providing information to the Health 
      Search/Thales Database from 2001 to 2004. The age-standardised incidence of AF 
      was: 3.9-3.0 cases, and 3.6-3.0 cases per 1,000 person-years in males and 
      females, respectively. During the study period, 2,016 (37.2%) patients had no 
      prescription, 1,663 (30.7%) were prescribed an antiplatelet (AP) agent, 1,440 
      (26.6%) were prescribed an OAC and 301 (5.5%) had both prescriptions. The date of 
      diagnosis (p = 0.0001) affected the likelihood of receiving an OAC. AP, but not 
      OAC, use significantly increased with a worsening stroke risk profile using the 
      CHADS2 risk score. Older age increased the probability (p < 0.0001) of receiving 
      an AP, but not an OAC. Approximately 42% and 24% of patients persisted with OAC 
      treatment at one and two years, respectively, the remainder interrupted or 
      discontinued their treatment. Underuse and discontinuation of OAC treatment is 
      common in incident AF patients. Risk stratification only partially influences AT 
      management.
FAU - Mazzaglia, Giampiero
AU  - Mazzaglia G
AD  - Health Search, Italian College of General Practitioners, Florence, Italy. 
      mazzaglia.giampiero@simg.it
FAU - Filippi, Alessandro
AU  - Filippi A
FAU - Alacqua, Marianna
AU  - Alacqua M
FAU - Cowell, Warren
AU  - Cowell W
FAU - Shakespeare, Annabelle
AU  - Shakespeare A
FAU - Mantovani, Lorenzo G
AU  - Mantovani LG
FAU - Bianchi, Cosetta
AU  - Bianchi C
FAU - Cricelli, Claudio
AU  - Cricelli C
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20100309
PL  - Germany
TA  - Thromb Haemost
JT  - Thrombosis and haemostasis
JID - 7608063
RN  - 0 (Fibrinolytic Agents)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Age Factors
MH  - Aged
MH  - Aged, 80 and over
MH  - Atrial Fibrillation/diagnosis/*drug therapy/*epidemiology
MH  - Drug Prescriptions/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Female
MH  - Fibrinolytic Agents/*therapeutic use
MH  - Humans
MH  - Incidence
MH  - Italy
MH  - Male
MH  - Medication Therapy Management
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Patient Compliance
MH  - *Primary Health Care
MH  - Retrospective Studies
MH  - Risk Factors
EDAT- 2010/03/11 06:00
MHDA- 2010/10/06 06:00
CRDT- 2010/03/11 06:00
PHST- 2009/08/03 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2010/01/05 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2010/03/11 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2010/03/11 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2010/10/06 06:00 [medline]
AID - 09-08-0525 [pii]
AID - 10.1160/TH09-08-0525 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Thromb Haemost. 2010 May;103(5):968-75. doi: 10.1160/TH09-08-0525. Epub 2010 Mar 
      9.