Prevalence, contemporary trends and associated factors of potentially inappropriate prescription of edoxaban in real-world clinical practice: A subanalysis of the SUNSHINE registry.

Aim: As the direct oral anticoagulant most recently approved in China, data pertaining to clinical edoxaban use are still scarce. This study investigated the prevalence of and contemporary trends in edoxaban prescription among Chinese patients as well as factors associated with its inappropriate use in a multicentre registry of patients treated in real-world clinical practice.

Methods: This real-world, prospective, multicentre and non-interventional study included 1005 inpatients treated with edoxaban. According to National Medical Products Administration and European Heart Rhythm Association guidelines, edoxaban therapy was determined to be appropriate or inappropriate in each case.

Results: The median patient age was 70.0 years (interquartile range 61.0-78.0 years) and 46.3% were women. Overall, 456 (45.4%) patients received inappropriate edoxaban therapy, and common issues included an inappropriately low dosage (183, 18.2%) or wrong drug selection (109, 10.8%), high dosage (73, 7.3%), unreasonable off-label use (49, 4.9%), contraindicated medication combinations (27, 2.7%) and incorrect administration timing (16, 1.6%). Several factors, such as age ≥75 years (odds ratio [OR] = 1.921, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.355-2.723, P < 0.001), weight >60 kg (OR = 2.657, 95%CI 1.970-3.583, P < 0.001), severe renal insufficiency (OR = 1.988, 95% CI 1.043-3.790, P = 0.037), current anaemia (OR = 1.556, 95% CI 1.151-2.102, P = 0.004) and history of bleeding (OR = 2.931, 95% CI 1.605-5.351, P < 0.001) were associated with an increased risk of inappropriate edoxaban therapy, whereas factors associated with cardiovascular specialties, such as admission to a cardiovascular department (OR = 0.637, 95% CI 0.464-0.873, P = 0.005), dronedarone use (OR = 0.065, 95% CI 0.026-0.165, P < 0.001) and amiodarone use (OR = 0.365, 95% CI 0.209-0.637, P < 0.001) decreased this risk.

Conclusion: In this real-world study, 45.4% of patients received an inappropriate treatment with edoxaban. Multiple clinical characteristics can help identify patients who should receive edoxaban. Further development and implantation of educational activities and management strategies are needed to ensure the correct use of edoxaban.