Differences in the quality of oral anticoagulation therapy with vitamin K antagonists in German GP practices - results of the cluster-randomized PICANT trial (Primary Care Management for Optimized Antithrombotic Treatment)

  • Background: In Germany, patients receiving oral anticoagulation (OAC) are often treated by general practitioners (GPs), and large proportions of patients receive vitamin K antagonists (VKAs). The quality of OAC in German GP practices, differences between various practices, and improvement potential through implementation of case management, have not yet been investigated satisfactorily. Based on results of a cluster-randomized controlled trial, we aimed to assess whether OAC quality can be improved, any variations between practices exist and determine practice- and patient-level factors. Methods: The PICANT trial (2012–2015) was performed in 52 GP practices in Hesse, Germany. Adult patients with long-term indication for OAC received best practice case management in the intervention group. International normalized ratio (INR) values were recorded from anticoagulation passes. The Rosendaal method was used to calculate Time in Therapeutic Range (TTR) at patient level, and mean pooling to obtain center-specific TTR (cTTR) at practice level. The quality of OAC was assessed by TTR and cTTR. Linear model analyses were used to investigate associations between practice−/ patient-level factors and TTR. Results: Inclusion of 736 patients (49.6% intervention and 50.4% control patients); 690 (93.8%) received phenprocoumon. Within 24 months, the TTR was 75.1% (SD 17.6) in the intervention versus 74.3% (SD 17.8) in the control group (p = 0.670). The cTTR averaged 75.1% (SD 6.5, range: 60.4 to 86.7%) in the intervention versus 74.3% (SD 7.2, range: 52.7 to 85.7%) in the control group (p = 0.668). At practice level, the TTR was significantly lower in practices with a male physician and certification in quality management. At patient level, the TTR was significantly higher in patients with moderate to high compliance, in men, and in patients that performed self-management. The TTR was significantly lower in patients with certain comorbidities, and who were hospitalized. Conclusions: The intervention did not effectively improve OAC quality compared to routine care. Quality of INR control was generally good, but considerable variation existed between GP practices. The variability indicates optimization potential in some practices. The demonstrated association between patient-level factors and TTR highlights the importance of considering patient characteristics that may impede achieving high quality therapeutic outcomes. Trial registration: ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN41847489, registered 27 February 2012.

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Author:Cornelia MertensGND, Andrea Siebenhofer-KroitzschORCiDGND, Andrea BergholdORCiDGND, Gudrun Pregartner, Lisa-Rebekka Ulrich-MüssigGND, Karola MergenthalGND, Birgit Kemperdick, Sylvia Schulz-Rothe, Sandra Rauck, Sebastian HarderGND, Ferdinand M. GerlachORCiDGND, Juliana PetersenORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-535598
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4372-y
ISSN:1472-6963
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31370840
Parent Title (English):BMC health services research
Publisher:BioMed Central
Place of publication:London
Contributor(s):Phillip Elliott
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2019
Date of first Publication:2019/08/01
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2020/05/13
Tag:Center-specific time in therapeutic range (cTTR); General practice; Oral anticoagulation; Time in therapeutic range (TTR); Vitamin K antagonists
Volume:19
Issue:1, Art. 539
Page Number:15
First Page:1
Last Page:15
Note:
Open Access: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
HeBIS-PPN:465940528
Institutes:Medizin / Medizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0