title: The prevalence of oral anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation in Portugal: Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Oral anticoagulation (OAC) is an effective treatment in the prevention of thromboembolic events in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The aim of this review was to estimate the prevalence of OAC therapy in patients with AF in Portugal.
  
  
  METHODS
  MEDLINE, the Index of Portuguese Medical Journals and SIBUL (the Bibliographic Catalog of the Integrated Library System of the University of Lisbon) were searched for Portuguese observational studies reporting the proportion of anticoagulated patients with AF. The pooled estimated prevalence of anticoagulated patients and respective 95% confidence interval (CI) were determined by means of a meta-analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven studies were included for analysis, of which four were conducted in a hospital environment and three in the general community. These studies enrolled a total of 891 patients with AF. The pooled estimated prevalence of anticoagulated patients was 40% (95% CI: 32-48%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of OAC in Portuguese AF patients is low. There is a need to promote change in OAC prescribing habits for AF patients in Portugal, in accordance with international guidelines.
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Farmacologia Clínica, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Lisboa, Portugal; Laboratório de Farmacologia Clínica e Terapêutica, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal. Electronic address: dgcaldeira@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Caldeira
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Farmacologia Clínica, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Lisboa, Portugal; Laboratório de Farmacologia Clínica e Terapêutica, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Márcio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barra
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Farmacologia Clínica, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Lisboa, Portugal; Laboratório de Farmacologia Clínica e Terapêutica, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal; Departamento de Cardiologia, CCUL, CAML, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Cláudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: David
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Farmacologia Clínica, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Lisboa, Portugal; Laboratório de Farmacologia Clínica e Terapêutica, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal; Centro de Estudos de Medicina Baseada na Evidência (CEMBE), Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal; Centro Português da Rede Cochrane Iberoamericana, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Farmacologia Clínica, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Lisboa, Portugal; Laboratório de Farmacologia Clínica e Terapêutica, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Joaquim J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Cardiologia, CCUL, CAML, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Fausto J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Pinto
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D011174:Portugal; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants
keywords: Antagonistas da vitamina K; Anticoagulation; Anticoagulação; Atrial fibrillation; Coumarinicos; Coumarins; Fibrilhação auricular; Prevalence; Prevalência; Varfarina; Vitamin K antagonists; Warfarin