Table 4

Factors associated with the prescription of aspirin or other antiplatelet for TE prevention in NVAF in April 2015 (vs AC): results of the GEE model

	Antiplatelet therapy alone n=11 609		Treated with AC n=33 413		OR (95% CI)	p Value
	n	%	n	%	OR (95% CI)	p Value
Patient age (years)						<0.0001
<65	890	7.7	2016	6.0	1.22 (1.10 to 1.35)
65–74	2769	23.9	8780	26.3	Reference
75–84	3842	33.1	14 363	43.0	0.94 (0.87 to 1.02)
≥85	4108	35.4	8254	24.7	1.72 (1.58 to 1.87)
Country						0.001
England	8065	69.5	22 909	68.6	Reference.
Wales	1383	11.9	4524	13.5	0.80 (0.70 to 0.91)
Scotland	1590	13.7	4231	12.7	1.06 (0.96 to 1.19)
Northern Ireland	571	4.9	1749	5.2	0.83 (0.72 to 0.97)
Gender: male (reference=female)	5364	46.2	14 580	43.6	0.87 (0.81 to 0.93)	<0.0001
Time since NVAF diagnosis						<0.0001
<6 months	497	4.3	2121	6.3	Reference
6–12 months	442	3.8	2175	6.5	0.96 (0.83 to 1.11)
12–24 months	979	8.4	3886	11.6	1.24 (1.10 to 1.41)
2–5 years since	3095	26.7	8496	25.4	1.89 (1.68 to 2.12)
≥5 years	6596	56.8	16 735	50.1	2.17 (1.93 to 2.44)
Previous oral AC treatment						<0.0001
No previous treatment	8093	69.7	21 189	63.4	Reference
NOAC only	87	0.7	411	1.2	0.61 (0.46 to 0.81)
VKA and NOAC	76	0.7	490	1.5	0.37 (0.29 to 0.47)
VKA only	3353	28.9	11 323	33.9	0.65 (0.59 to 0.72)
Previous stroke/TIA/arterial TE	2291	19.7	7341	22.0	0.83 (0.75 to 0.92)	0.0008
Congestive heart failure	1722	14.8	6685	20.0	0.61 (0.56 to 0.66)	<0.0001
Previous coronary artery disease	4535	39.1	9636	28.8	1.60 (1.50-−1.71)	<0.0001
Peripheral arterial disease	833	7.2	1887	5.6	1.20 (1.10 to 1.31)	0.0001
Hypertension	11 308	97.4	32 869	98.4	0.59 (0.51 to 0.69)	<0.0001
CHA₂DS₂-VASc score						<0.0001
2	1425	12.3	3444	10.3	Reference
3	2408	20.7	7482	22.4	0.69 (0.63 to 0.76)
4	3206	27.6	9656	28.9	0.56 (0.50 to 0.64)
5	2306	19.9	6544	19.6	0.54 (0.46 to 0.64)
≥6	2264	19.5	6287	18.9	0.52 (0.42 to 0.65)
Previous bleed						<0.0001
No bleed	7522	64.8	21 577	64.6	Reference
Intracranial bleed	346	3.0	404	1.2	3.02 (2.56 to 3.56)
Gastrointestinal bleed	1430	12.3	4001	11.8	0.96 (0.90 to 1.02)
Other bleed	2311	19.9	7473	22.4	0.82 (0.77 to 0.87)
History of fall	3474	29.9	8211	24.6	1.14 (1.08 to 1.20)	<0.0001
Renal disease	4106	35.4	11 542	34.5	0.94 (0.90 to 0.99)	0.0131
Liver disease	102	0.9	214	0.6	1.32 (1.03 to 1.70)	0.0414
Number of comedications						<0.0001
<5	1448	12.5	6879	20.6	Reference
5–9	5040	43.4	14 825	44.4	1.71 (1.60 to 1.82)
10–14	3169	27.3	7782	23.3	2.08 (1.93 to 2.26)
15 or more	1952	16.8	3927	11.8	2.66 (2.43 to 2.91)

AC, anticoagulant; GEE, generalised estimating equations; NOAC, novel oral anticoagulant; NVAF, non-valvular atrial fibrillation; TE, thromboembolism; TIA, transient ischaemic attack; VKA, vitamin K antagonist.