Management of stroke prevention in canadian patients with atrial fibrillation at moderate to high risk of stroke.

Background: Many patients with atrial fibrillation who are at moderate to high risk of stroke do not receive anticoagulation with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in accordance with recommendations.

Objective: To determine (1) why Canadian patients with atrial fibrillation who are potentially eligible for VKA do not receive this therapy, (2) why Canadian primary care physicians discontinue VKA therapy, and (3) why VKA therapy is perceived as difficult to manage.

Methods: The study involved a chart review of 3 cohorts of patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at moderate to high risk of stroke: patients who had never received VKA treatment (VKA-naive), those whose treatment had been discontinued, and those whose VKA treatment was considered difficult to manage.

A national survey of the management of atrial fibrillation with antithrombotic drugs in Italian primary care.

The aims of this study were to investigate trends in the incidence of diagnosed atrial fibrillation (AF), and to identify factors associated with the prescription of antithrombotics (ATs) and to identify the persistence of patients with oral anticoagulant (OAC) treatment in primary care. Data were obtained from 400 Italian primary care physicians providing information to the Health Search/Thales Database from 2001 to 2004. The age-standardised incidence of AF was: 3.

Patient-reported treatment satisfaction measures for long-term anticoagulant therapy.

A comprehensive literature search identified seven instruments, of which three had psychometric data available. These were the 'Sawicki instrument', the Duke Anticoagulation Satisfaction Scale (DASS) and Deep Vein Thrombosis Quality of Life (DVTQoL). Sawicki assessed five domains with acceptable internal reliability.

Predictive factors of acute hospitalization in 134 patients with Alzheimer's disease: a one year prospective study.

Objective: To evaluate the frequency of and determine predictive factors for acute hospitalization in a prospective study of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Design: A one year prospective study.

Participants: 134 patients recruited from the memory clinic in Toulouse University Hospital, with AD diagnosed using the NINCDS-ADRDA criteria.