Risk Factor Analysis of Venous Thromboembolism in Cancer: A National Inpatient Sample Study

Abstract

Objective In this study, we aimed to explore the association of demographic characteristics and comorbidities with the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in cancer inpatients, as well as to delineate the mortality risk in cancer inpatients with VTE. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis based on the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) 2012-2014, involving 339,395 inpatients with a primary diagnosis of cancer subdivided into cohorts without VTE (n=331,695) and with VTE (n=7,700). We used a binomial logistic regression model to evaluate the odds ratio (OR) of demographics, comorbidities, and in-hospital mortality rate with respect to cancer inpatients with VTE. Results A higher proportion of cancer inpatients with VTE were 36-50 years in age (83.1%), male (50%), and of black (19.3%) and Hispanic ethnicity (17.2%) compared to the non-VTE cohort. The prevalence of comorbidities was higher in the VTE cohort, including HIV/AIDS, congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic pulmonary disease, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. CHF demonstrated the highest risk of association with VTE (OR: 2.68, 95% CI: 2.30-3.12), followed by hypertension (OR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.16-1.29), diabetes (OR: 1.16, 95% CI: 1.07-1.26), and chronic pulmonary disease (OR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.05-1.22). Conversely, valvular diseases, obesity, and drug abuse were not significantly associated with VTE in cancer inpatients. The in-hospital mortality rate was higher in cancer inpatients with VTE (12% vs. 2.1%), thereby increasing the in-hospital mortality risk (OR: 3.87, 95% CI: 3.58-4.18). Conclusion VTE risk was significantly higher in cancer patients with comorbid CHF, hypertension, diabetes, and chronic pulmonary disease. The risk of all-cause in-hospital mortality was increased by four times in cancer inpatients with VTE.