ArticleInternational journal of clinical pharmacy2026
Oral anticoagulant switching in patients with atrial fibrillation: a long-term cohort study using population-level administrative data.
Article in International journal of clinical pharmacy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionPatient characteristics and clinical factors could necessitate switching between oral anticoagulants (OACs) for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF), a phenomenon whose causes and consequences are understudied.
aimOur objectives were to describe longitudinal patterns of OAC switching in patients with AF and to identify factors associated with switching.
methodA cohort of adult AF patients were identified in Canadian administrative health data from 1996 to 2019. An OAC switch was defined as a change from one OAC to a different OAC with a gap of ≤ 30 days between prescriptions. Switch events were characterized, and factors associated with switches were analyzed using Cox regression.
resultsThe cohort comprised 30,264 patients. One quarter experienced an OAC switch and 22% of those had ≥ 2 switch events. Vitamin K antagonist (VKA) to direct-acting oral anticoagulant (DOAC) was the most frequent switch type (63%). Switching to a previous OAC occurred commonly (19%-26%). A quarter of patients who switched from warfarin to a DOAC switched back to warfarin. Hospitalizations for AF, acute renal failure, vascular disease, gastrointestinal bleeding, and/or stroke ≤ 90 days before a switch had the highest hazards for VKA to DOAC switch. Hospitalizations for AF, stroke, major bleeding, vascular disease, and/or heart failure (HF) ≤ 90 days before a switch had the highest hazards for DOAC to VKA switch. Hospitalizations for AF, major bleeding, acute renal failure, vascular disease, stroke, and/or HF ≤ 90 days before a switch had the highest hazards for switch between DOACs.
conclusionOAC switching is frequently required in AF patients, with many needing to return to a previously used agent. Switches may reflect an intention to maximize stroke prevention effectiveness and safety, but further research is needed to assess the risks and benefits of OAC switching.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.