Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33158928›Full record

ArticleCMAJ open

Cost-effectiveness of antithrombotic agents for atrial fibrillation in older adults at risk for falls: a mathematical modelling study.

Eric K C Wong, Christina Belza, David M J Naimark, Sharon E Straus, Harindra C Wijeysundera

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in CMAJ open. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 28% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Eric K C WongKnowledge Translation Program (Wong, Straus), Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital; Institute for Health Policy Management and Evaluation (Wong, Belza, Naimark, Straus, Wijeysundera), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Division of Nephrology (Naimark), Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Division of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (Wijeysundera), Schulich Heart Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. eric.wong@medportal.ca.
Christina BelzaKnowledge Translation Program (Wong, Straus), Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital; Institute for Health Policy Management and Evaluation (Wong, Belza, Naimark, Straus, Wijeysundera), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Division of Nephrology (Naimark), Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Division of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (Wijeysundera), Schulich Heart Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.
David M J NaimarkKnowledge Translation Program (Wong, Straus), Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital; Institute for Health Policy Management and Evaluation (Wong, Belza, Naimark, Straus, Wijeysundera), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Division of Nephrology (Naimark), Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Division of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (Wijeysundera), Schulich Heart Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.
Sharon E StrausKnowledge Translation Program (Wong, Straus), Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital; Institute for Health Policy Management and Evaluation (Wong, Belza, Naimark, Straus, Wijeysundera), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Division of Nephrology (Naimark), Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Division of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (Wijeysundera), Schulich Heart Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.
Harindra C WijeysunderaKnowledge Translation Program (Wong, Straus), Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital; Institute for Health Policy Management and Evaluation (Wong, Belza, Naimark, Straus, Wijeysundera), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Division of Nephrology (Naimark), Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Division of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (Wijeysundera), Schulich Heart Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.
St Michael's Hospital · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAntithrombotic drugs decrease stroke risk in patients with atrial fibrillation, but they increase bleeding risk, particularly in older adults at high risk for falls. We aimed to determine the most cost-effective antithrombotic therapy in older adults with atrial fibrillation who are at high risk for falls.

methodsWe conducted a mathematical modelling study from July 2019 to March 2020 based on the Ontario, Canada, health care system. We derived the base-case age, sex and fall risk distribution from a published cohort of older adults at risk for falls, and the bleeding and stroke risk parameters from an atrial fibrillation trial population. Using a probabilistic microsimulation Markov decision model, we calculated quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), total cost and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for each of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), warfarin, apixaban, dabigatran, rivaroxaban and edoxaban. Cost data were adjusted for inflation to 2018 values. The analysis used the Ontario public payer perspective with a lifetime horizon.

resultsIn our model, the most cost-effective antithrombotic therapy for atrial fibrillation in older patients at risk for falls was apixaban, with an ICER of $8517 per QALY gained (5.86 QALYs at $92 056) over ASA. It was a dominant strategy over warfarin and the other antithrombotic agents. There was moderate uncertainty in cost-effectiveness ranking, with apixaban as the preferred choice in 66% of model iterations (given willingness to pay of $50 000 per QALY gained); edoxaban, 30 mg, was preferred in 31% of iterations. Sensitivity analysis across ranges of age, bleeding risk and fall risk still favoured apixaban over the other medications.

interpretationFrom a public payer perspective, apixaban is the most cost-effective antithrombotic agent in older adults at high risk for falls. Health care funders should implement strategies to encourage use of the most cost-effective medication in this population.

Indexed as

Cost-Benefit AnalysisAccidental FallsAgedAged, 80 and overAspirinAtrial FibrillationDabigatranFemaleFibrinolytic AgentsHemorrhageHumansMaleModels, TheoreticalOntarioPyrazolesPyridinesapixabanAspirinDabigatranedoxabanFibrinolytic AgentsPyrazolesPyridinesPyridonesRivaroxabanThiazolesWarfarin

Identifiers

PMID33158928
PMCPMC7661050
OpenAlexW3096522524

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.