Direct oral anticoagulant use and risk of severe COVID-19

Abstract

Background: Hypercoagulability and thromboembolism are prominent features of severe COVID-19, and ongoing anticoagulant use might be protective.

Methods: We conducted a nationwide register-based cohort study in Sweden, February through May, 2020, to assess whether ongoing direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) use was associated with reduced risk of hospital admission for laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, or a composite of intensive care unit (ICU) admission or death due to laboratory-confirmed COVID-19.

Results: DOAC use (n = 103 703) was not associated with reduced risk of hospital admission for COVID-19 (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] [95% confidence interval] 1.00 [0.75-1.33] vs. nonuse atrial fibrillation comparator [n = 36 875]; and aHR 0.94 [0.80-1.10] vs. nonuse cardiovascular disease comparator [n = 355 699]), or ICU admission or death due to COVID-19 (aHRs 0.76 [0.51-1.12], and 0.90 [0.71-1.15], respectively).

Conclusion: Ongoing DOAC use was not associated with reduced risk of severe COVID-19, indicating that prognosis would not be modified by early outpatient DOAC initiation.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; anticoagulants; atrial fibrillation; direct-acting oral anticoagulants.