Baseline characteristics of the study population (n=21 248)
| Male sex | 12 205 (57.4) |
| Age, years | |
| Mean (SE) | 73 (11.2) |
| Median (25th–75th percentile) | 73 (66–82) |
| ≥75 years | 9786 (46.1) |
| Type NOAC used | |
| Dabigatran | 7925 (37.3) |
| Rivaroxaban | 6817 (32.1) |
| Apixaban | 6506 (30.6) |
| Medical history | |
| Hypertension | 13 431 (63.2) |
| Chronic kidney disease | 1046 (4.9) |
| Chronic heart failure | 3979 (18.7) |
| Ischaemic heart disease | 5230 (24.6) |
| History of stroke/TIA | 2746 (12.9) |
| COPD | 1665 (7.8) |
| Diabetes | 2413 (11.4) |
| Dementia | 369 (1.7) |
| Anaemia (last year) | 559 (2.6) |
| Active cancer (last year) | 1776 (8.4) |
| Previous bleeding hospitalisation | 2881 (13.6) |
| Non-bleeding related hospitalisation (last year) | 13 294 (62.6) |
| Medication before index date | |
| Previous use of OAC (>180 days prior to index) | 2175 (10.2) |
| Antiplatelet therapy | 11 217 (52.8) |
| Low-dose aspirin (last year) | 10 612 (49.9) |
| Non-aspirin platelet inhibitor | 605 (2.8) |
| NSAIDs (last year) | 5018 (23.6) |
| Risk scores | |
| Modified HAS-BLED score ≥3 | 9169 (43.2) |
| CHA2DS2-VASc score | |
| Mean | 2.76 |
| ≥2 | 16 905 (79.6) |
| Comorbidity score ≥1 | 11 891 (56.0) |
| Reduced NOAC dose at index date | 6303 (29.7) |
Values are numbers (percentages) unless otherwise stated.
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; NOAC, non-vitamin K oral anticoagulant; NSAIDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; OAC, oral anticoagulant; TIA, transient ischaemic attack.