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Aims To determine exposure to warfarin and the associated outcomes in a population of older patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). Methods Cohort study of patients aged 65-89 years admitted to hospital July 2003-December 2008 with newly-diagnosed or pre-existing AF. Outcomes at three years among one-year survivors post-index admission (landmark date) were all-cause mortality, stroke/systemic thromboembolism (stroke/TE) and bleeding. Multivariate Cox models were used to identify factors associated with each outcome. Results AF was the principal diagnosis for 27.5% of 17,336 index AF admissions. Of 14,634 (84.4%) patients alive at one-year 1,384 (9.5%) died in the following year. Vascular disease (42%) was the most frequent cause of death.Warfarin use, prior to the index admission and/or the 1-year landmark, did not exceed 40%.Compared to non-exposure or discontinuation at the index admission, initiation or persistence with warfarin prior to the landmark date was associated with reduced risk for all-cause mortality, a statistically non-significant reduction in risk for stroke/TE, and an increased risk for bleeding. Higher CHA2DS2-VASc scores were associated with increased risk for each outcome. Conclusions In a population-based cohort of hospitalised NVAF patients, the initiation and persistent use of warfarin was associated with lower all-cause mortality risk to three years, although reduction in risk for stroke/TE did not reach statistical significance. The apparent under-use of warfarin in this older, high-risk cohort reinforces the opportunity for further reduction in stroke/TE with the uptake of non-vitamin K oral anti-coagulants (NOACs) among those not prescribed, or not persistent with, warfarin.

Objective: To assess the sensitivity of the recording of Aboriginality in the Western Australia Linked Data. Methods: This was a follow-up study using record linkage. Demographic data was obtained from 993 adult, urban-dwelling Aboriginal Australian participants in the Perth Aboriginal Atherosclerosis Risk study (PAARS). These were linked to the Western Australian Linked Data (State-wide hospital admissions and discharges, and deaths) to provide the number of admissions and Indigenous status coding from 1980 to 2006. Results: There were 14,413 admissions for PAARS participants in the study period. The sensitivity of coding of Indigenous status in hospital admissions data significantly improved over time, exceeding 0.9 in every year since 2002. Prior to 2002 sensitivity was around 0.8, but poorer for males, with some anomalous years. Conclusions: The coding of Indigenous status in the Western Australia Hospital Morbidity Database since 2002 has improved. The data from earlier decades must be approached with more caution. Implications: The improved accuracy of identification of Indigenous status in the Western Australia Hospital Morbidity Database allows comparative studies of adult Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal population health outcomes to be undertaken with confidence.