Interest of pharmacoepidemiology for the study of anticoagulants

Anticoagulants are essential for the treatment of cardiovascular illnesses. With the ageing population in the West countries, and the consequent increase in the frequency of thrombogenic heart diseases oral anticoagulants represent a not insignificant portion of drug consumption. Over the past few years, direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have been marketed because they are easier to use than vitamine K antagonists (VKAs). The introduction of these drugs has raised two main issues: (1) progress of the switch from VKAs to DOACs; (2) the comparison of adverse drug reactions (primarily hemorrhagic) on DOACs compared to indirect oral anticoagulants (IOAs). This article is confined to discussing oral anticoagulants, focusing on the two issues outlined above, and the potential answers that may be found in pharmacoepidemiology studies.