TY  - JOUR
T1  - THe underuse of warfarin treatment in the elderly
AU  - Brass LM, Krumholz HM, Scinto JD, Mathur D, Radford M
Y1  - 1999/06/28
N1  - 
JO  - Archives of Internal Medicine
SP  - 1374
EP  - 1375
VL  - 159
IS  - 12
N2  - 
One reason for the underuse of anticoagulant therapy may be physicians' reluctance to subject elderly and possibly frail patients to the risks of anticoagulant therapy without a better understanding of what those risks are. Although the rates of major bleeding events in randomized trials for primary prevention were low and not significantly increased in patients randomized to receive anticoagulant therapy,2- 3 the studies did not enroll patients with bleeding risks. Patients with social contraindications, including potential difficulties with following the routine, poor medication compliance, or general debility, were specifically excluded. In one trial,4 this group represented 38% of the patients screened, a much larger proportion than those enrolled (7% of the patients screened). A trial5 in higher-risk populations, which are more analogous to our community-based cohort,1 showed increased bleeding rates for patients who received anticoagulant therapy.

SN  - 0003-9926
M3  - doi: 
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ER  -