What question did this study set out to answer?

To evaluate the risk of dementia among patients with atrial fibrillation initiating various direct oral anticoagulants.

March 26, 2026Open Access

Direct Oral Anticoagulants and Incidence of Dementia in Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation

JVJulien Quang Le VanMontreal Heart Institute SBSarah BeradidJewish General Hospital EMErica E.M. MoodieMcGill University Health Centre

Key Result

Direct oral anticoagulants are associated with a decreased risk of dementia compared to warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Key Points

To evaluate the risk of dementia among patients with atrial fibrillation initiating various direct oral anticoagulants.
Compared dementia risk among patients on different direct oral anticoagulants (apixaban, edoxaban, rivaroxaban).
Analyzed head-to-head outcomes between the individual medications.
Included patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.
Findings indicate differences in dementia risk among the various direct oral anticoagulants.
Apixaban showed potentially lower risk compared to edoxaban and rivaroxaban.
Overall trends suggest that the choice of anticoagulant may influence dementia development.

Structured PICO

Does the choice of individual DOAC (apixaban, edoxaban, or rivaroxaban) affect the incidence of dementia in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation?

Population

Patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation

Intervention

Initiation of specific direct oral anticoagulants (apixaban, edoxaban, or rivaroxaban)

Comparator

Head-to-head comparisons among the individual DOACs (apixaban, edoxaban, and rivaroxaban)

Outcome

Incidence of dementiahard clinical

Main Result

Absolute Event Rate: 0% vs 0%

Abstract

In patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), oral anticoagulation is essential for stroke prevention and may also prevent dementia. Although the class of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have been associated with a decreased risk of dementia compared to warfarin, it is unknown if differences exist among the individual DOACs. Our primary objective was to compare the dementia risk among AF patients initiating different DOACs, with head-to-head comparisons between apixaban, edoxaban, and rivaroxaban.

AI से पूछें

Bookmark

View Full Paper