Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia. It increases the risk of thromboembolism by up to fivefold. Guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations to effectively mitigate thromboembolic events using oral anticoagulants while minimizing the risk of bleeding. This review focuses on non-adherence to contemporary guidelines and the factors associated with guideline non-adherence. The extent of guideline non-adherence differs according to geographic region, healthcare setting, and risk stratification tools used. Guideline adherence has gradually improved over recent years, but a significant proportion of patients are still not receiving guideline-recommended therapy. Physician-related and patient-related factors (such as patient refusals, bleeding risk, older age, and recurrent falls) also contribute to guideline non-adherence, especially to undertreatment. Quality improvement initiatives that focus on undertreatment, especially in the primary healthcare setting, may help to improve guideline adherence.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	non-adherence, thromboprophylaxis, atrial fibrillation, review
Research Division:	Biomedical and Clinical Sciences
Research Group:	Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences
Research Field:	Pharmaceutical sciences
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Other health
Objective Field:	Other health not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Bereznicki, L (Professor Luke Bereznicki)
UTAS Author:	Lee, KJ (Dr Kenneth Lee)
ID Code:	143025
Year Published:	2020
Web of Science® Times Cited:	9
Deposited By:	Pharmacy
Deposited On:	2021-02-23
Last Modified:	2021-05-11
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