Dawn of the direct-acting oral anticoagulants: trends in oral anticoagulant prescribing in Wales 2009-2015.

A retrospective analysis of anonymized OAC prescribing data in Wales from June 2009 to December 2015. Results reveal that the number of OAC prescription items increased from 40·48 to 65·26 per 1000 prescribing unit (PU). Average cost increased from £87·41 to £529·31 per 1000 PU. The share of warfarin prescribing declined from 100% to 68%, with the a rising share for the DOACs, made up of rivaroxaban (19%), apixaban (9%) and dabigatran (3%) WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Analysis of real-life data demonstrates that there has been an increase in the overall numbers and costs of OAC prescriptions, with a rising proportion of DOACs to warfarin prescribing.