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Objective: To analyze the long-term compliance of oral anticoagulant therapy and the demands of disease management in patient with atrial fibrillation (AF)., Methods: Inpatients with AF taking warfarin were collected from Department of Internal Medicine from January 1 to December 31, 2008. Inpatients from departments of surgery, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, dermatology and pediatrics and those on a previous warfarin therapy were excluded. The data of patient profiles, medical history and anticoagulant treatment were collected from electronic medical record. And the status of anticoagulant treatment one year later and demands of disease management were inquired by telephone., Results: A total of 268 AF patients received a telephone survey. Among them, 145 patients (54.1%) continued taking warfarin. Gender, age, type of AF, duration of AF and history of ischemic stroke was not significantly associated with the compliance of anticoagulant treatment. The odds ratio was 1.74 (95%CI: 0.67-4.47), 0.87 (95%CI: 0.30-2.53), 1.59 (95%CI: 0.35-1.09), 1.09 (95%CI: 0.61-1.93) and 0.44 (95%CI: 0.12-1.60) respectively. Among patients on warfarin, INR was monitored monthly in 88 patients (60.7%) and 70 patients (48.3%) had an INR value of 2.0-3.0. Among 123 withdrawal patients, 88 patients (71.5%) terminated treatment within 6 month. The common reasons included patient ignorance about long-term anticoagulant treatment (35.0%) and switching to aspirin because of a poor effect (24.4%). About 80% of patients wished to obtain instructions about INR monitoring and adjustment of drug dosage. Among them, 196/268 patients (73.1%) wished for a regular follow-up. And 176/196 patients (89.8%) opted for a telephone follow-up and 150/176 patients (85.2%) wanted to receive monthly instructions., Conclusion: The compliance of anticoagulation treatment and the target-meeting proportion of INR value are relative low. And the common reasons of withdrawal are patient ignorance about long-term anticoagulant treatment and switching to aspirin because of a poor effect. Disease management will meet most of AF patients' demands.

Objective: To analyze the level of exposure and cluster of risk factors to stroke for patients with non valvular atrial fibrillation., Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted among 583 patients with non valvular atrial fibrillation, randomly selected from 8 general hospitals and 7 community health service centers located in the 8 districts in Beijing city in 2006., Results: 133 patients attacked stroke and the prevalence of stroke in the total 583 patients was 22.8%. 78 patients attacked stroke after being diagnosed as atrial fibrillation with the prevalence related to atrial fibrillation as 14.3%. The levels of exposure related to age, duration of atrial fibrillation, histories of hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia were significantly different between stroke and non-stroke patients (P < 0.05). Data from multiple variables logistic regression analysis showed that age, duration of atrial fibrillation, history of dyslipidemia and history of diabetes increased the risk of stroke with odds ratio as 1.06, 2.08, 1.82, 1.79 respectively (95%CI was not including 1). The risk of stroke among those having 3 or 4 risk factors was 4.36 and 4.51 times of those without risk factor after adjusting for age, sex and duration of atrial fibrillation., Conclusion: Age, duration of atrial fibrillation, history of dyslipidemia and history of diabetes were the main risk factors related to stroke and the clustering of risk factors would further increase the risk. It is important to control blood pressure, blood surge and lipid besides therapy of anticoagulation or antiplatelet for patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

Objective: To assess the anticoagulation treatment in real-life practice for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) in Beijing., Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted among 583 patients with nonvalvular AFF, 327 males and 256 females, aged 40 - 93, selected randomly from 8 general hospitals (n = 375, 64.3%) and 7 community health service centers (n = 208, 35.7%) located in the 8 districts in Beijing city, mainly from the out-patient departments (n = 437, 75%)., Results: 110 of the 583 patients (18.9%) were prescribed warfarin in which the percentage of international normalized ratio (INR) range (2.0 - 3.0) was 39.1% (n = 43). 68.2% of them had taken warfarin for less than one year. Another 33 patients (5.7%) had ever taken warfarin. 346 patients (59.3%) took aspirin of which 85.7% were exposed to the dose of 76 - 150 mg/d, and no one was administered the dose of 325 mg/d. 18.9% of the 583 patients had not received any anticoagulation or antiplatelet drugs. 78.6% of patients had never got the advice about taking warfarin from their doctors, and over 75% of the patients lacked in knowledge about the necessity of anticoagulation treatment for AF patients. The prevalence of stroke in the total 583 patients was 22.8%, 22.0% in those receiving warfarin treatment, 24.3% in those receiving aspirin treatment, and 21.3% in those receiving neither anticoagulation treatment nor antiplatelet treatment, without significant differences among them (chi(2) = 1.09, P = 0.58)., Conclusion: The percentage of taking anticoagulation treatment in real-life practice pf the AF patients in Beijing is lower than that of taking antiplatelet treatment. The period of anticoagulation treatment is short and the effect is not good. The percentage of taking aspirin is too high in the high risk patients of stroke, but the dose of aspirin is on the low side. Doctors' advice and knowledge related to anticoagulation treatment of the patients are important factors influencing the anticoagulation treatment.