Anticoagulants May Ward Off Dementia in AF Patients

Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who initiate oral anticoagulant treatment early may have a reduced risk for dementia, according to a recent study.

For their study, the researchers assessed data on 444,106 patients from a Swedish registry (over 1.5 million years at risk) with a hospital diagnosis of AF and no previous diagnosis of dementia between 2006 and 2014.
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The researchers implemented propensity score matching, falsification endpoints, and analyses based on to intention to treat and on-treatment principles.

Findings showed that anticoagulant treatment at baseline was ultimately associated with a 29% lower risk for dementia vs no anticoagulant treatment (hazard ratio [HR] 0.71), as well as a 48% lower risk analyzed on treatment (HR 0.52).

The researchers found via direct comparison that there was no difference between new oral anticoagulants and warfarin (HR 0.97).

“The risk of dementia is higher without oral anticoagulant treatment in patients with AF,” the researchers concluded. “This suggests that early initiation of anticoagulant treatment in patients with AF could be of value in order to preserve cognitive function.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Friberg L, Rosenqvist M. Less dementia with oral anticoagulation in atrial fibrillation. Eur Heart J. 2018;39(6):453-460. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehx579.