BACKGROUND

The adherence of oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy among nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) in China during recent years was unclear, and the possible factors that influenced the initiation and persistent use of OAC were needed to be explored.

METHODS

A total of 1085 NVAF patients, who experienced new-onset and nonfatal AIS from August 2011 to December 2020 during follow-ups in the China Atrial Fibrillation Registry (China-AF), were enrolled. Information including patients' demographic characteristics, medical history, medication usage, which were collected before and after the index stroke, were used in the analysis.

RESULTS

OAC was initiated in 40% (434/1085) NVAF patients within 3 months after new-onset AIS. High-reimbursement-rate insurance coverage (odds ratio [OR]: 1.51, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03-2.22, p = .036), 3-month-peri-stroke AF episodes (OR: 2.63, 95% CI: 1.88-3.69, p < .001), and pre-stroke OAC usage (OR: 8.92, 95% CI: 6.01-13.23, p < .001), were positively associated with initiation of OAC within 3 months after new-onset AIS, while age (OR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.96-1.00, p = .024), female (OR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.44-0.90, p = .012) and higher modified HASBLED score (OR: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.37-0.55, p < .001) were negatively associated with it. Among 3-month-post-stroke OAC users, history of radiofrequency ablation (hazard ratio: 1.65, 95% CI: 1.16-2.35; p = .006) was positively associated with non-persistence of OAC usage.

CONCLUSIONS

In China, the proportion of NVAF patients who initiated OAC therapy since new-onset AIS was still low. More efforts are needed on improving patients' adherence to anticoagulant therapy.