Secondary outcomes
As shown in Supplementary Figure Ⅱ-Ⅵ , there was no significant
difference in ischemic stroke (moderate polypharmacy: HR, 0.92 [95%
CI, 0.80–1.08]; severe polypharmacy: HR, 0.90 [95% CI,
0.73–1.12]), all-cause death (moderate polypharmacy: HR, 1.02 [95%
CI, 0.83–1.26]; severe polypharmacy: HR, 1.00 [95% CI,
0.75–1.33]), and gastrointestinal bleeding (moderate polypharmacy:
HR, 1.09 [95% CI, 0.94–1.26]; severe polypharmacy: HR, 1.14
[95% CI, 0.94–1.39]) between the NOACs and VKAs users. The use of
NOACs was associated with a reduced risk of any bleeding in AF patients
with moderate polypharmacy (HR, 0.85 [95% CI, 0.72–1.00]) and
severe polypharmacy (HR, 0.83 [95% CI, 0.72–0.95]). On the
contrary, compared with VKAs, the risk of intracranial hemorrhage was
reduced in patients with moderate polypharmacy (HR, 0.67 [95% CI,
0.46–0.98]) but not in patients with severe polypharmacy (HR, 0.68
[95% CI, 0.42–1.10]) in NOACs users.