Studying real-life experience of taking new anti-clotting drugs with other medicines

Polypharmacy and the impact of drug interactions with direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs)

Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are a new group of drugs used to prevent blood clots. They are used as an alternative to warfarin. Usually, people taking DOACs are also taking several other medications, which increases the chance of drug interactions. Since DOACs are new, information on how they interact with other medicines is lacking. Therefore, this project will research drug interactions with DOACs using patient health records from the UK and Hong Kong. Dr Wong will explore patterns of prescribing these drugs and measure the health consequence of drug interactions. The project will test: 1) if DOACs are subject to fewer drug interactions than warfarin regardless of the types of drugs that are taken together; and 2) whether taking gastroprotective drugs, such as omeprazole, alongside DOACs affects their ability to prevent heart and circulatory problems. Currently, evidence of drug interactions with DOACs is roughly based on studies investigating how drugs are metabolised (or broken down) in the body. With the use of real-life data from patients, this project will provide better evidence about drug interactions with DOACs in the context of their use alongside other types of medicines. The research will also help to better understand how drug interactions and metabolism may vary between different ethnic groups.