Factors driving the use of warfarin and non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Background/purpose: In the past, warfarin was the drug of choice for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Recently, non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have been approved as an alternative to warfarin in nonvalvular AF. However, there is a limited amount of real-world data on how NOACs are currently being used in Taiwan.