Quality of life, adherence and satisfaction of patients with auricular fibrillation treated with dabigatran or vitamin K antagonists

Abstract Objective To analyze the quality of life, adherence and satisfaction of patients with nonvalvular auricular fibrillation (NVAF) treated with dabigatran versus vitamin K antagonists (VKA) in cardiology consultations in Spain. Methods We conducted an observational, comparative, prospective and multicentre study of patients with NVAF treated in cardiology departments, who started treatment with dabigatran or VKA in the month prior to the baseline visit. The follow-up lasted 6 months. We analyzed quality of life (using the validated AF-QoL 18 questionnaire [0, minimum; 100, maximum]), adherence (using the Morisky-Green test) and the cardiologist's perception (using a specific questionnaire [0, completely dissatisfied; 10, completely satisfied]). Results We analyzed 1015 patients (mean age, 73.3 ± 9.4 years; 57% men; CHA 2 DS 2 VASc, 3.4 ± 1.5; HAS-BLED, 1.5 ± 1.0) who were treated with dabigatran (74.7%) or with VKA (25.3%). The total quality-of-life scores remained constant throughout the follow-up (47.9 ± 23.5 and 48.6 ± 24.4 at baseline and at 6 months, respectively; p  = NS) but were higher at 6 months for the dabigatran group (50.6 ± 24.7 vs. 42.8 ± 22.5; p p  = .001). There was a better perception of the cardiologist regarding the satisfaction of the patients treated with dabigatran at 6 months (9.0 ± 1.2 vs. 6.6 ± 2.2; p Conclusions For patients with NVAF and high thromboembolic risk treated in cardiology consultations, the adherence, satisfaction and quality of life were higher for the patients treated with dabigatran than for those treated with VKA.