Rapid uptake of new oral anticoagulants in the United States

Since 2010, four new direct oral anticoagulant drugs (DOACs, also known as NOACs) — dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban and edoxaban — have been introduced into US clinical practice. To assess their uptake, researchers analysed data from a nationally representative audit of physician visits.

Between 200
9 and 2014, visits in
which patients were using an oral anticoagulant rose from 2.05 million to 2.83 million per quarter (
P
<0.001), with DOACs accounting for 38.2% of the total in 2014. Visits involving patients with atrial fibrillation using anticoagulants rose from 51.9% in 2009 to 66.9% in 2014. In 2014, rivaroxaban was the most commonly
prescribed DOAC for atrial fibrillation (47.9% of total visits), followed by apixaban (26.5%) and dabigatran (25.5%). Edoxaban had not yet been introduced.

D
OACs have been rapidly adopted and have contributed to an increase in atrial fibrillation patients treated with anticoagulants, conclude the aut
hors in
The American Journal of Medicine
(online, 2 July 2015)
^[1]
.