Long-term Patient Self-management of Oral Anticoagulation

Abstract

Results from what is the first long-term study of patient self-monitoring of PTs and self-adjustment of the warfarin sodium dosage for oral anticoagulation suggest that patients can successfully measure their own PTs, adjust their own warfarin dosage, and achieve a degree of therapeutic effectiveness at least as good, if not better than patients managed in an anti-coagulation clinic. Larger, prospective, randomized trials are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of this new approach to therapy and to assess its cost-effectiveness.