Table 1 Baseline cohort characteristics

Age

71 (65–77)

73 (67–79)

73 (68–77)

0.8

71 (66–75)

0.1

71 (64–75)

0.04

Female sex

116 (43.1)

47 (41.6)

11 (34.4)

0.5

30 (37.0)

0.5

22 (75.9)

0.001

BMI

27.0 (24.5–30.4)

27.3 (24.9–31.2)

27.3 (25.0–31.0)

0.7

27.0 (24.0–31.1)

0.5

26.9 (22.2–28.3)

0.09

 Recently diagnosed

52 (18.4)

10 (8.5)

8 (24.2)

0.04

16 (18.4)

0.2

13 (43.3)

<0.001

 paroxysmal

131 (46.5)

60 (50.8)

10 (30.3)

0.05

42 (49.4)

0.8

12 (40.0)

0.3

 persisting

19 (6.7)

9 (7.6)

1 (3.0)

0.4

7 (8.6)

0.7

1 (3.3)

0.5

 permanent

80 (28.4)

39 (33.1)

14 (42.4)

0.3

22 (27.2)

0.4

4 (13.3)

0.04

Time since AF diagnosis, years

4 (1–8)

4 (2–9)

5 (0.1–9)

0.5

3 (1–10)

0.1

2 (0–6)

0.01

History of electrical cardioversion

83 (30.9)

40 (35.4)

10 (31.3)

0.7

21 (25.9)

0.2

9 (31.0)

0.7

History of ablation

35 (13.0)

15 (13.3)

5 (15.6)

0.7

13 (16.0)

0.6

1 (3.4)

0.1

Family history of AF

33 (12.3)

13 (11.5)

3 (9.4)

0.7

10 (12.3)

0.9

7 (24.1)

0.08

Congestive heart failure

81 (30.1)

34 (30.1)

13 (40.6)

0.3

24 (29.6)

0.9

8 (27.6)

0.8

Hypertension

227 (84.4)

99 (87.6)

30 (93.8)

0.3

65 (80.2)

0.2

26 (89.7)

0.8

Age ≥ 75 years

98 (36.4)

53 (46.9)

13 (40.6)

0.5

23 (28.4)

0.009

8 (27.6)

0.06

Age 65–74 years

114 (42.4)

41 (36.3)

14 (43.8)

0.4

43 (53.1)

0.02

13 (44.8)

0.4

Diabetes

81 (28.7)

31 (27.4)

10 (31.3)

0.4

22 (27.2)

0.7

8 (27.6)

0.9

Stroke / TIA / systemic embolism

55 (20.4)

22 (19.5)

7 (21.9)

0.8

20 (24.7)

0.4

4 (13.8)

0.5

Vascular disease

96 (35.7)

41 (36.3)

13 (40.6)

0.7

28 (34.6)

0.8

11 (37.6)

0.9

CHA₂DS₂-VASC Score

4 (2.5–5)

4 (3–5)

4 (3–5)

0.9

3 (2–5)

0.3

4 (3–4.5)

0.4

HAS-BLED Score

2 (1–3)

2 (1–2)

2 (1–3)

0.7

2 (1–3)

0.2

2 (1–3)

0.5

Abnormal liver or kidney function

52 (19.3)

24 (21.2)

5 (15.6)

0.5

18 (22.2)

0.9

5 (17.2)

0.6

CRNM bleeding

13 (4.8)

1 (0.9)

2 (6.3)

0.06

4 (4.9)

0.08

4 (13.8)

0.001

Major bleeding

10 (3.7)

1 (0.9)

5 (15.6)

<0.001

4 (4.9)

0.08

0

0.6

Venous thromboembolism

22 (8.2)

7 (6.2)

3 (9.4)

0.5

9 (11.1)

0.2

3 (10.3)

0.4

Cancer

58 (21.6)

19 (16.8)

9 (28.1)

0.2

19 (23.5)

0.3

6 (20.7)

0.6

OAC-naïve at baseline

18 (6.7)

4 (3.5)

2 (6.3)

0.5

6 (7.4)

0.2

4 (13.8)

0.03

Aspirin comedication

58 (21.6)

23 (20.4)

5 (15.6)

0.6

19 (23.5)

0.6

6 (20.7)

0.9

Clopidogrel comedication

14 (5.2)

9 (8.0)

2 (6.3)

0.7

3 (3.7)

0.2

0

0.1

Platelet count

214 (176–264)

211 (180–251)

203 (172–239)

0.4

215 (174–286)

0.3

238 (177–275)

0.4

Hemoglobin

13.2 (11.8–14.4)

13.5 (12.5–14.8)

13.2 (11.8–15.2)

0.3

12.7 (11.4–14.1)

0.002

12.8 (11.0–14.1)

0.05

Hematocrit

39.5 (35.1–42.8)

40.3 (37.4–43.9)

39.5 (34.9–42.6)

0.2

38.5 (33.6–41.0)

0.001

38.8 (33.9–41.2)

0.03

Leucocyte count

6.8 (5.7–8.5)

6.8 (5.7–7.9)

7.0 (6.0–8.6)

0.3

6.9 (5.7–8.9)

0.3

6.4 (5.2–7.9)

0.3

eGFR (ml/min/1.73 m²)

65.2 (53.3–79.6)

60.4 (49.5–74.3)

71.2 (58.4–91.8)

0.03

66.8 (56.2–82.1)

0.01

65.8 (56.6–73.1)

0.2