Choosing Antithrombotic Therapy for Elderly Patients With Atrial Fibrillation Who Are at Risk for Falls
Open Access
- 12 April 1999
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in Archives of internal medicine (1960)
- Vol. 159 (7) , 677-685
- https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.159.7.677
Abstract
APPROXIMATELY 5% of persons 65 years of age and older have atrial fibrillation.1 Their average yearly risk of stroke is 5%, and this risk is increased in the presence of certain risk factors, including left ventricular dysfunction, hypertension, a history of stroke, and increasing age.2 Long-term antithrombotic therapy with warfarin or aspirin reduces these patients' chance of stroke by 68%2 and 21%,3 respectively. There is no convincing evidence that these relative risk reductions vary according to patients' baseline chance of stroke. Therefore, among all age groups, elderly persons receive the greatest absolute benefit from warfarin or aspirin prophylaxis. In fact, an expert panel recommended that all elderly persons with atrial fibrillation should be considered for long-term warfarin therapy unless a contraindication exists.4This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Preliminary Report of the Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation StudyNew England Journal of Medicine, 1990