Burden of Ischemic Stroke and Intake of Oral Anticoagulants in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation in the UK Primary Care

This study will characterize patients with ischemic stroke, a condition which occurs when a vessel supplying blood to the brain is obstructed, and a subpopulation of patients with irregular and often rapid heart rate (atrial fibrillation) in a UK general population using The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database. The main aim of the study is to estimate in how many patients atrial fibrillation was diagnosed at the moment of stroke and to describe whether these patients received OAC at the time of the stroke. In addition, researchers want to learn about the relative risk of ischemic stroke when such patients did not continue OAC treatment.