Inpharma 1294 - 30 Jun 2001

Warfarin underused in elderlywomen with AF

Elderly women with atrial fibrillation (AF) are lesslikely to receive warfarin than elderly men, reportresearchers from Canada.

Their 3-year study included data for 773 patients withnewly diagnosed AF enrolled in the Canadian Registry ofAF (CARAF).* The overall use of antithrombotic agents,or of other cardiac medications, did not differsignificantly by gender. However, among patients aged≥ 75 years with ≥ 1 stroke risk factor, women weresignificantly less likely to receive warfarin than men(24.5 vs 44.9%). On the other hand, women aged ≥ 75years were twice as likely to receive aspirin, comparedwith men of that age group. The analysis also showedthat women receiving warfarin were 3.35 times morelikely to experience a major bleed than men receivingwarfarin.* This study was supported by Procter and Gamble PharmaceuticalCanada, Inc. CARAF received support from Knoll Pharmaceuticals andDuPont Pharma.

Humphries KH, et al. New-onset atrial fibrillation: sex differences in presentation,treatment, and outcome. Circulation 103: 2365-2370, 15 May 2001 800867957

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Inpharma 30 Jun 2001 No. 12941173-8324/10/1294-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved