Examining the Risks of Major Bleeding Events in Older People Using Antithrombotics

摘要

BackgroundReal-world evidence for the safety of using antithrombotics in older people with multimorbidity is limited. We investigated the risks of gastrointestinal bleeding (GI-bleeding) and intracranial (IC-bleeding) associated with antithrombotics either as monotherapy, dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) or as triple therapy (TT) [DAPT plus anticoagulant] in older individuals aged 65years and above.MethodsWe identified all individuals, 65years and above, who had a first-time event of either IC- or GI-bleeding event from the hospital discharge data. We employed a case-crossover design and conditional logistic regression analyses to estimate the adjusted relative risks (ARR) of bleeding.ResultsWe found 66,500 individuals with at least one event of IC- or GI-bleeding between 01/01/2005 and 31/12/2014. DAPT use was associated with an increased risk relative to non-use of any antithrombotics in IC-bleeding (ARR=3.13, 95% CI=[2.64, 3.72]) and GI-bleeding (ARR=1.34, 95% CI=[1.14, 1.57]). The increased bleeding risk relative to non-use of any antithrombotics was highest with TT use (IC-bleeding, ARR=17.28, 95% CI=[6.69, 44.61]; GI-bleeding, ARR=4.85, 95% CI=[1.51, 15.57]).ConclusionsUsing population-level data, we were able to obtain estimates on the bleeding risks associated with antithrombotic agents in older people often excluded from clinical trials because of either age or comorbidities.