Kardiol Pol
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Multicenter Study
Polish regional differences in patient knowledge on atrial fibrillation and its management as well as in patterns of oral anticoagulant prescription.
BACKGROUND The Jessa Atrial Fibrillation Knowledge Questionnaire (JAKQ) was successfully used to assess knowledge gaps in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). AIMS To evaluate the regional differences among Polish patients in their awareness of AF diagnosis and oral anticoagulation use. METHODS A total of 1583 patients with AF at a median (IQR) age of 72 (66-79) years completed the JAKQ in 3 cardiology centers (center I, Kraków; center II, Toruń; center III, Kielce) from January 2017 to June 2018. ⋯ The percentage of correct responses was lower in patients on reduced NOAC doses (35.4% of patients on NOACs), compared with the full-dose NOAC groups in center I (56.9% vs 62.5%; P = 0.012) and II (48.1% vs 56.2%; P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS Patients from a high-volume academic center showed better knowledge than their peers from district hospitals. There are large regional differences in prescription patterns of oral anticoagulants, including the preferred NOAC.