DOACs have fewer drug interactions than warfarin

Patients who switch from warfarin to DOACs have fewer potential drug interactions, an Australian study has found. A review of 712 patients with atrial fibrillation stopped warfarin to start apixaban or rivaroxaban found that the proportion of patients with no potential drug interactions increased from 47% to 63%. Similarly, the proportion of patients taking one medication with an anticoagulant drug interaction was lower with DOACs compared (29% vs 35%), researchers from Griffith University, Queensland found.

More information: Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis

High economic cost of AML in Australia

The economic impact of  acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in Australia is substantial despite it being a relatively uncommon condition accounting for 0.8% of new cancer diagnoses in Australia, new research shows. The productivity loss attributable to AML in the Australian population over 10 years is equivalent  be 7,600 years of life lost and 7,337 Patient Adjusted Life Years (PALYs) lost, amounting to $1.43 billion in lost GDP, according to an analysis conducted by researchers at Monash University, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.

The study indicated there would be potential savings of approximately $52 million if survival rates were improved by 20% and almost $118 million in savings if the return-to-work rates increased by 20% on the current estimates. The analysis is published in JCO Oncology Practice

Don’t rely on hospital data for blood disorders

Hospital data are an unreliable source of  information for bleeding-related conditions in pregnancy, NSW researchers have warned.

In a study of hospital reporting of outcomes for 36,051 births they found that anaemia and blood disorders were poorly reported with sensitivity ranging from 2.5% to 24.8%. While postpartum haemorrhage, transfusion and hysterectomy were more reliably reported, they cautioned that there was a  need for caution for studies of obstetric anaemia and blood disorders, given high rates of uncoded and ‘false’ cases, and they advised that other sources of data should be sought where possible.

The findings are published in BMC Research Notes