BELgian ANtiCoagulation Survey for Elderly Patients With NVAF

Atrial fibrillation is a heart condition that causes an abnormal and fast heart rate. For people with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF), this is caused by problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes. NVAF happens more often in elderly people and can lead to stroke, heart failure, and death. Doctors are currently able to give patients a type of treatment called an anticoagulant. Anticoagulants work by making the blood thinner. They are thought to help reduce the risk of stroke and death caused by NVAF. In this study, researchers wanted to learn more about what elderly people think of taking anticoagulants that do not have any vitamin K in them. These are called non-VKA oral anticoagulants (NOACs).

This study will include up to about 150 Belgian men and women aged 75 years and over who have NVAF and have been treated with NOACs. The study will also include about 10 doctors who have treated these patients.

In this study, there will be no required tests or visits. Instead, patients will answer a paper questionnaire about their use of NOACs. The researchers will ask the doctors questions about how they treat their patients using NOACs. The main types of questions the researchers will focus on are:

• The patient characteristics of the elderly with NVAF who are treated with NOACs
• The level of fear of the elderly about bleeding while using a blood thinner and the fear of stroke/thrombosis.
• The geriatrician's thoughts about using NOACs to treat NVAF in elderly patients
• Those patient characteristics geriatrician's find most important when deciding on the anticoagulation treatment in the elderly patients.

The information from this study will be collected between February and April 2021. But, the whole study will take about 6 months to finish and is expected to end in July 2021.