Introduction:

Warfarin is one of the most prescribed drugs for the treatment and prevention of thromboembolic diseases. The benefit of the prevention of thrombotic events and the reduction of mortality is widely documented. However, security issues have limited its use.

Monitoring patients, with special attention to information and education about their pathologies, healthy habits, compliance with treatment, and understanding of risks, is essential to achieve good results, reducing morbidity, mortality and hospitalizations. Information regarding anticoagulation’s safety profile and quality under an educational intervention program is scarce in Uruguay. The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of an enhanced educational intervention plan with pharmaceutical care (IEPAF), on the quality of anticoagulation with warfarin in outpatients in the multidisciplinary heart failure unit (UMIC), and to compare the effectiveness and safety of treatment, and to evaluate the usefulness of the SAMeTT2R2 score.

Methodology:

Randomized clinical trial. Patients under follow-up in UMIC treated with warfarin were recruited and randomized to usual medical control vs medical control with dose adjustments according to an established protocol, plus enhanced educational intervention IEPAF.

Results:

After 24 months of follow-up, both groups maintained a good level of anticoagulation, with time in therapeutic range (TTR) of 83,15% and 83,80% for the control and intervention groups, respectively. The enhanced educational intervention and the warfarin dose adjustment protocol provided results comparable to conventional anticoagulation monitoring.

Conclusions:

The IEPAF with pharmaceutical care promoted a comparable result in safety, effectiveness, and adherence concerning conventional follow-up. Both groups achieved an excellent level of anticoagulation as assessed by TTR. From the post hoc analysis, a statistically significant association of SAMeTT2R2 values 4 and 6 emerges with events, with a relative risk 5 times greater for the female sex.

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