Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Dec 8;17(12):e0277961.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277961. eCollection 2022.

The anticoagulation length of therapy and risk of new adverse events in venous thromboembolism (ALTERNATIVE) study: Design and survey results

Cecilia Portugal  1 , Margaret C Fang  2 , Alan S Go  3   4   5   6 , Hui Zhou  1   4 , John Chang  1 , Priya Prasad  2 , Dongjie Fan  3 , Elisha A Garcia  3 , Sue Hee Sung  3 , Kristi Reynolds  1   4
Affiliations

The anticoagulation length of therapy and risk of new adverse events in venous thromboembolism (ALTERNATIVE) study: Design and survey results

Cecilia Portugal et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The Anticoagulation Length of Therapy and Risk of New Adverse Events In Venous Thromboembolism (ALTERNATIVE) study was designed to compare the benefits and harms of different treatment options for extended treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE). In this paper, we describe the study cohort, survey data collection, and preliminary results. We identified 39,605 adult patients (age ≥ 18 years) from two large integrated health care delivery systems who were diagnosed with incident VTE and received initial anticoagulation therapy of 3 months or longer. A subset of the cohort (12,737) was invited to participate in a survey. Surveys were completed in English, Spanish or Mandarin via a mailed questionnaire, an online secure web link, or telephone. The survey domains included demographics, personal medical history, anticoagulant treatment history, anticoagulant treatment satisfaction, health-related quality of life and health literacy. A total of 5,017 patients participated in the survey for an overall response rate of 39.4%. The mean (SD) age of the survey respondents was 63.0 (14.5) years and self-reported race was 76.0% White/European, 11.1% Black/African American, and 3.8% Asian/Pacific Islander and 14.0% reported Hispanic ethnicity. Sixty percent of respondents completed the web survey, while 29.0% completed the mail-in paper survey, and 11.0% completed the survey via telephone. The ALTERNATIVE Study will address knowledge gaps by comparing several treatment alternatives for the extended management of VTE so that this information could be used by patients and clinicians to make more informed, patient-centered treatment choices.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Survey cohort flow diagram.
a) Not mutually exclusive. b) Includes individuals who partially completed the survey (n = 246).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cushman M, Barnes GD, Creager MA, Diaz JA, Henke PK, Machlus KR, et al.. Venous thromboembolism research priorities: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association and the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis. Research and practice in thrombosis and haemostasis. 2020;4(5):714–21. doi: 10.1002/rth2.12373 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Virani SS, Alonso A, Benjamin EJ, Bittencourt MS, Callaway CW, Carson AP, et al.. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics-2020 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2020;141(9):e139–e596. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000757 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Schunemann HJ, Cushman M, Burnett AE, Kahn SR, Beyer-Westendorf J, Spencer FA, et al.. American Society of Hematology 2018 guidelines for management of venous thromboembolism: prophylaxis for hospitalized and nonhospitalized medical patients. Blood advances. 2018;2(22):3198–225. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2018022954 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. van der Hulle T, Kooiman J, den Exter PL, Dekkers OM, Klok FA, Huisman MV. Effectiveness and safety of novel oral anticoagulants as compared with vitamin K antagonists in the treatment of acute symptomatic venous thromboembolism: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of thrombosis and haemostasis: JTH. 2014;12(3):320–8. - PubMed
    1. Ageno W, Gallus AS, Wittkowsky A, Crowther M, Hylek EM, Palareti G. Oral anticoagulant therapy: Antithrombotic Therapy and Prevention of Thrombosis, 9th ed: American College of Chest Physicians Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines. Chest. 2012;141(2 Suppl):e44S–e88S. doi: 10.1378/chest.11-2292 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types