STABLE Results: Warfarin Home Monitoring Achieves Excellent INR Control
Publication Date
2014
Journal Title
Am J Manag Care
Abstract
Objectives: Point-of-care, home international normalized ratio (INR) monitoring (patient self-testing, or PST) provides an opportunity to optimize warfarin therapy as demonstrated in randomized trials.This study sought to determine the quality of warfarin therapy as determined by time in therapeutic INR range (TTR) in patients who perform home monitoring outside of a clinical trial setting. Study Design: Retrospective analysis. Methods: The data base of an independent diagnostic testing facility was retrospectively queried over a 2.5-year period (January 2008-June 2011) and patientTTR was analyzed based on frequency of testing, age, gender, indication for therapy, duration of therapy, and critical value occurrence. Results: A total of 29,457 patients with multiple indications for warfarin therapy comprised the database.The mean TTR for the entire group was 69.7%, with weekly testers achieving a TTR of 74% versus 68.9% for variable testers (testing every 2-4 weeks)(P5.0) than did variable testers. Conclusions: Point-of-care patient self-testing at home achieves high-quality warfarin therapy outside of clinical trials and compares favorably with the results achieved in randomized trials or in anticoagulation clinic settings.
Volume Number
20
Issue Number
3
Pages
202-209
Document Type
Article
Status
Faculty
Facility
School of Medicine
Primary Department
General Internal Medicine