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Prevalence and incidence of venous thromboembolism in geriatric patients admitted to long-term care hospitals
Wagner, G., Steiner, D., Ohrenberger, G., Smeikal, M., Gisinger, C., Moertl, D., Nopp, S., Gartlehner, G., Pabinger, I., & Ay, C. (2024). Prevalence and incidence of venous thromboembolism in geriatric patients admitted to long-term care hospitals. Scientific Reports, 14(1), Article 17737. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-67480-1
The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) increases with age. However, the risk of VTE in the setting of long-term care hospitals is understudied. Our objective was to provide data on the prevalence and incidence of VTE in older adults admitted to long-term care hospitals. In this retrospective cohort study, we collected data about chronically ill and multimorbid patients aged 65 years and older from two long-term care hospitals. The primary endpoint of this study was the lifetime prevalence of VTE, and the secondary endpoint was VTE incidence during residency in long-term care hospitals. We analysed data from 1148 patients with a mean age of 84.1 +/- 7.9 years, of whom 74.2% were women. The lifetime prevalence of VTE at baseline was 9.6% (95% CI 7.9-11.4). Cumulative incidence of VTE at 1, 2, and 3 years from baseline was estimated at 3.5% (95% CI 2.5-4.7), 4.2% (95% CI 3.1-5.5), and 5.4% (95% CI 4.1-7.0), respectively. Overall, the incidence rate of VTE in our study was 2.82 (95% CI 2.18-3.66) per 100 person-years. The study indicated a considerably high lifetime prevalence and incidence of VTE during residence in long-term care hospital settings, requiring further evaluation in larger prospective studies.
