Inclusion and exclusion criteria
RCTs, post-hoc analyses, or observational (prospective or retrospective
cohort) studies focusing on AF patients with polypharmacy who received
VKAs or NOACs (dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban, or edoxaban) were all
enrolled. Included studies need to report quantitative estimates of the
hazard ratios (HRs) and 95%
confidence intervals (CIs) for clinical outcomes among patients.
Criteria for exclusion were as follows: (1) certain publication types
(e.g., reviews, comments, case reports, case series, letters,
editorials, and meeting abstracts); (2) data was unable to obtain or
insufficient; (3) studies did not report the relevant outcomes or
classification of polypharmacy. If there were overlapping data among two
or more studies, we included the one with the largest sample size.