OBJECTIVES:

Patients receiving long-term anticoagulants were reported with varied health-related quality of life (HrQoL). We assessed HrQoL in patients receiving either warfarin or dabigatran from a tertiary care hospital.

METHODS:

A cross-sectional study was carried out following consent from patients on oral anticoagulants. Demographics, prothrombin time international normalized ratio (PT-INR), and drug-related details were collected. A validated Arabic version of the perception of anticoagulant treatment questionnaire (PACT-2) was used to assess HrQoL under three dimensions: convenience; burden of disease; and treatment satisfaction.

RESULTS:

One-hundred and fifty patients were recruited. Overall good quality of life was observed as indicated by the average score of 80.3 in the warfarin group and, moderate in the dabigatran (average score of 68). Highly adherent and elderly patients receiving warfarin were significantly more likely to have good quality of life. Therapeutic PTINR and high medication adherence were the primary domains significantly associated with good quality of life amongst patients with warfarin.

CONCLUSIONS:

We observed good quality of life in patients receiving warfarin particularly those in the categories of elderly, with therapeutic PT-INR and high medication adherence. Small sample size with dabigatran precludes any firm conclusions.