title: Quality of life in patients with venous thromboembolism and atrial fibrillation treated with coumarin anticoagulants.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about the overall quality of life (QOL) in patients newly diagnosed with venous thromboembolism (VTE) and atrial fibrillation (AF). We studied QOL in patients with VTE and AF immediately after the start of anticoagulant therapy, and after three months of treatment. Furthermore we identified whether QOL was affected by age, gender and nationality.
  
  
  METHODS
  The European pharmacogenetics of anticoagulant therapy (EU-PACT) study was a multicentre, randomized controlled trial of patients aged >18years diagnosed with VTE or AF. QOL was assessed using EuroQol 5 dimensions (EQ-5D) questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The EQ-5D questionnaires were completed by 187 patients with VTE and 660 patients with AF. The QOL in patients diagnosed with VTE or AF was significantly impaired, however, during a 3months treatment period, patients experienced an improvement (p<0.05). The QOL in patients diagnosed with VTE improved with increasing age, with similar effects seen in men and women. Men and women diagnosed with AF differed in QOL (respectively 0.84 and 0.74, p<0.05), and QOL decreased with age. Comparison between countries showed significant differences in the EQ-Index score at follow-up of patients with VTE, and in both EQ-Index score and EQ-VAS of patients with AF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The QOL in patients with VTE and AF is strongly reduced directly after the start of anticoagulant treatment, but improves within 3months. Moreover, QOL is influenced by demographic and disease-specific variables. These findings provide useful information for future cost-effectiveness studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Camilla L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Marvig
authors.affiliation: The Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, Utrecht University, Utrecht.
authors.forename: Talitha I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Verhoef
authors.affiliation: The Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, Utrecht University, Utrecht.
authors.forename: Anthonius
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Boer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University Medical School, Framlington Place, NE2 4HH, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kamali
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Technology Assessment, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Redekop
authors.affiliation: The Wolfson Centre for Personalised Medicine, Institute of Translational Medicine, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Munir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pirmohamed
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University Medical School, Framlington Place, NE2 4HH, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ann K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Daly
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pharmacology, Democritus University of Thrace Medical School, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
authors.forename: Vangelis G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Manolopoulos
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Pharmacology and Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wadelius
authors.affiliation: The Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, Utrecht University, Utrecht.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bouvy
authors.affiliation: The Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, Utrecht University, Utrecht. Electronic address: a.h.maitland@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Anke H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Maitland-van der Zee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003374:Coumarins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D054556:Venous Thromboembolism / Q000188:drug therapy*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants; D003374:Coumarins
keywords: Age; Atrial fibrillation; Nationality; Quality of life; Venous thromboembolism