Direct Oral Anticoagulants’ Consumption and Expenditure in the COVID-19 Pandemic in Russia and Clinical Practice Guidelines for Their Use

• Published in: Pharmacoepidemiology 2023-12, Vol.3 (1), p.1-32
• Main Authors: Baybulatova, Elena A., Chenkurov, Mikhail S., Korovyakova, Elina A., Zyryanov, Sergey K., Ziganshina, Liliya Eugenevna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: clinical practice guidelines; clinical trials; COVID-19; DOACs; pharmacoeconomics; pharmacoepidemiology
• ISSN: 2813-0618; 2813-0618
• DOI: 10.3390/pharma3010001

Background: The coronavirus pandemic has led to the creation of clinical guidelines by a large number of professional medical communities. However, the quality and methodology of development of Russian clinical guidelines has been little studied. The continued relevance of studying the use of DOACs (Direct oral anticoagulants) in patients with COVID-19 was the basis for conducting this study. Aim: The objective of this study was to assess DOAC consumption and expenditure in the Russian Federation during the COVID-19 pandemic and to analyze whether it was supported by the domestic evidence base for the use of DOACs in COVID-19 patients through identifying all publicly available Russian-produced CPGs (Clinical practice guidelines) for the treatment of COVID-19 and assessing their quality as the source of recommendations for the use of oral anticoagulants for the prevention of thrombotic complications in COVID-19 patients. We searched Russian databases for CPGs, published between 2020 and 2023. We identified seven relevant documents that met our inclusion criteria. Three authors analyzed Russian clinical guidelines using an AGREE II questionnaire. We calculated DOAC DDD (defined daily dose) consumption according to Russian clinical guidelines and DDD consumption in patients with COVID-19 for the period 2020–2022. Results: Seven clinical CPGs were analyzed with the AGREE II tool. It was revealed that experts gave the highest scores for the sections on scope and purpose (from 62.98% to 100%), and clarity of presentation (from 96.30% to 100%). The lowest scores were given for the sections on stakeholder involvement (33.33% to 64.81%), rigour of development (from 0% to 49.31%), applicability (from 23.61% to 50%), and editorial independence (from 0% to 50%). When comparing the total score, it was found that two clinical guidelines received the highest scores—ROPNIZ (Livzan), and ROPNIZ (Drapkina). The minimum score was registered with the NIIOZMM (Khripun) clinical guideline. No guideline received a total score of more than 70%. According to clinical recommendations, the consumption of apixaban and rivaroxaban is 15 DDD (30-day course of therapy), or 22.5 DDD (45-day course of therapy). Consumption of apixaban in the Russian Federation in 2020 and 2021 corresponds to the indicators presented in clinical recommendations (in 2020—26.59 DDD per patient with COVID-19; in 2021—15.75 DDD per patient with COVID-19), and in 2022—10.67 DDD, which is below the recommended v