The primary outcome , recurrent symptomatic , objectively confirmed VTE and related deaths during 6 months of treatment occurred in 30 of the 1279 dabigatran patients ( 2.3 % ) compared with 28 of the 1289 warfarin patients ( 2.2 % ; hazard ratio , 1.08 ; 95 % confidence interval [ CI ] , 0.64-1 .80 ; absolute risk difference , 0.2 % ; 95 % CI , -1.0 to 1.3 ; P < 0.001 for the prespecified noninferiority margin for both criteria ) .