Abstract
Background: Adherence to anticoagulants is critical for effective stroke prevention for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Whether adherence to direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) differs by chronic kidney disease (CKD) status remains uncertain. Methods: Using data from the Geisinger, we identified patients with AF initiating a DOAC between 2010-2019 and had at least one-year engagement prior and 3-month after initiation. To assess medication adherence, we compared proportion of days covered (PDC) by DOAC at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18-month between patients with and without CKD, defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 ml/min/1.73 m 2 . Poor adherence was defined as PDC <0.8, indicating that a patient used the drug <80% of the time. Results: Among the 4082 patients who initiated dabigatran (n=574), rivaroxaban (n=1502), or apixaban (n=2006), the mean (SD) age was 72 (12) years, 1083 (44%) were female, and the average eGFR was 73 (21) mL/min/1.73 m 2 . Overall, patients with CKD had lower adherence to DOAC compared to those without CKD (mean PDC: 0.89 vs. 0.91 at 3-month [P=0.03]; 0.87 vs. 0.89 at 6-month [P=0.04]; 0.84 vs. 0.87 at 9-month [P=0.02]; 0.83 vs. 0.86 at 12-month [P=0.05]; and 0.80 vs. 0.83 at 18-month [P=0.04]). For individual DOAC, only adherence to rivaroxaban was significantly lower in patients with CKD compared to those without CKD ( Figure ). Poor adherence to rivaroxaban was more common in CKD, particularly in the long-term (31% vs. 24% at 18-month [P=0.04]). Adherence to apixaban was highest and did not differ by CKD (CKD vs. non-CKD, mean PDC: 0.88 vs. 0.88 at 6-month; 0.85 vs. 0.85 at 12-month; and 0.81 vs. 0.83 at 18-month). Adherence to dabigatran was lowest and did not differ by CKD (CKD vs. non-CKD, mean PDC: 0.83 vs. 0.83 at 6-month; 0.76 vs. 0.78 at 12-month; and 0.73 vs. 0.74 at 18-month). Conclusion: Medication adherence was highest in apixaban users, followed by rivaroxaban and dabigatran users. Patients with CKD had lower adherence to rivaroxaban compared to those without CKD.
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