Patterns of Medications for Atrial Fibrillation Among Older Women: Results From the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.

PURPOSE: Examine patterns of medication use, changes in medication patterns over time, and investigate factors associated with medication patterns among older Australian women with Atrial Fibrillation (AF). METHODS: It is a retrospective analysis of the 1921-26 birth cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH), diagnosed with AF between 2000-2015 (N = 1206). Survey data of these women was linked with national registries for medications and death. Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) identified distinct patterns of medication use and transitions among these patterns for 3 consecutive years following AF diagnosis. LTA with co-variates determined the factors associated with latent status membership. RESULTS: One-tenth (9.6%, 11.7%, 11.4%) of the study population did not receive any medication for AF in all 3 years following AF diagnosis and about 60% did not receive any medication for the prevention of thromboembolism. Among those who received medications, almost three-quarters (76.6%, 68.4%, 68.5%) received some kind of combination of medications. LTA indicated at least 6 different patterns of AF medications. These patterns had transition probabilities >85% for most of the latent statuses. All factors but diabetes mellitus among the CHA2DS2-VA scoring scheme were independently associated with latent status membership at the time of AF diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of pharmacological treatment indicates that prevention of thromboembolism is inadequate among women with AF. There exists wide variations in medication patterns. However, once in a particular pattern, women are likely to continue the same medications long-term. This underscores the importance of initial assessment of patient profile and stroke risk score in determining the treatment for AF. Failure to assess risk makes women susceptible to devastating AF complications.

Burden of atrial fibrillation and stroke risk among octagenarian and nonagenarian women in Australia.

PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence and incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) among older Australian women from 2000 to 2015, determine factors associated with AF, and to calculate risk of stroke at the time of AF diagnosis. METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of 6671 women of the 1921-1926 birth cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, linked to data from hospital admissions to identify AF and National Death Index to determine date of death. Yearly prevalence and incidence proportions of AF, and stroke risk using CHA2DS2-VA scheme, were calculated. Factors associated with AF were assessed using logistic regression. RESULTS: From 2000 to 2015, a total of 1827 women with AF were identified. AF prevalence increased every year as women aged from 2.71% (95% CI 1.62%-3.80%) in 2000 among women aged 74-79 years to 24.83% (95% CI = 23.23%-26.44%) in 2015 among women aged 89-94 years. The incidence proportion remained constant (between 3% and 5%) throughout the study period. Sedentary lifestyle (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.04-1.49), hypertension (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.09-1.42), arthritis (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.09-1.41), heart attack (OR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.18-2.24), and angina (OR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.14-1.70) were independently associated with AF. Mean CHA2DS2-VA score for women with AF was 3.43 (SD ± 1.23). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of AF reported in Australian women is among the highest compared to previous estimations from other countries and regions. According to the findings, about one in four women over the age of 90 years had AF. These women were also at high risk of stroke. This has significant public health implications especially with changing demographics of increase in the aging population. Further research is required on understanding how women with AF are treated in Australia and their health outcomes.