Control of Therapeutic Levels of Anticoagulation and Associated Factors: A Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Maintaining therapeutic levels of anticoagulation is essential to avoid health complications in people who take vitamin K antagonists. This study aimed to analyze the influence of people’s characteristics and the presence of changes in their lives in the control of therapeutic levels of anticoagulation. A longitudinal multicenter study with a 1-year follow-up of a cohort of 199 people receiving anticoagulant therapy was performed. The effect of biological, clinical, social, lifestyle, and changes in life on the international normalized ratio (INR) was analyzed. During the follow-up, 46.7% of participants presented good INR control. At baseline, a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (P = .00), the lack of comorbidities (P = .03), absence of depression (P = .04), and not following a pharmacological treatment with hypoglycemia drugs (P = .01) were associated with good INR control. During the follow-up, the variable of making changes to the usual diet was associated with poor INR control (P = .05). In the binary multiple regression model, factors associated with poor control were taking hypoglycemia drugs (P = .02) and the presence of depression (P = .04), and only the diagnosis of atrial fibrillation was associated with good control (P = .03). People with a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation had good INR control. Having comorbidities, suffering depression, taking hypoglycemia drugs, and making changes to the diet have a negative effect on INR control.