Trends in the Incidence of Venous Thromboembolism Adjusted for Body Mass Index (BMI).

The incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) may be increasing due to the obesity epidemic.

To estimate the incidence of VTE and describe trends in incidence adjusted for the population's increase in BMI.

Using the resources of the Rochester Epidemiology Project, we identified all Olmsted County, MN residents with an incident deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE) over the 13-year period, 1988–2000 (n=1,400). Age and BMI at VTE diagnosis and gender were collected for all cases. Age was categorized into 10 year intervals. Using a model for the population distribution of BMI derived from several (n=6) non-VTE Olmsted County cohorts (n=8,011 individuals), we calculated the probability of falling into each of five BMI categories (<18.5, 18.5–24, 25–29, 30–34, 35+) for each age, gender and calendar year. In Olmsted County in the median age group, the prevalence of BMI >30 kg/m²increased from approximately 15% in 1980 to 36% in 2000. We applied these probabilities to the decennial census data for 1980, 1990, 2000 using linearly interpolated census values for intra-census years to obtain Olmsted County age/sex/calendar year/BMI category denominators. Generalized linear modeling assuming a Poisson error structure, and using a log link function, and a log (population) offset was used to assess the relationship of crude incidence rates to gender, year of diagnosis, age and BMI.

The overall average age- and sex-adjusted annual VTE incidence was 120 per 100,000 person-years (DVT: 66 per 100,000; PE: 54 per 100,000), with higher age-adjusted rates among men than women (129 versus 113 per 100,000, respectively). VTE incidence rates increased exponentially with age for both genders, ranging from 3 to 1,079 per 100,000 for age groups 0–19 to 90–110 years. Age and sex-adjusted VTE incidence increased by increasing BMI category (88, 112, 106, 150, and 195 per 100,000 person-years, respectively, by increasing BMI category). Unadjusted for BMI, VTE incidence was unchanged from 1988 through 2000 (p=0.70). After adjusting for age, gender and calendar year, VTE incidence increased with increasing BMI (p<0.0001). The calendar year incidence slope estimate decreased numerically from 3% per decade to minus 4% per decade after adjusting for increasing BMI, remaining nonsignificant (p=0.57).

VTE remains a major national health problem, especially among the obese. Despite the dramatically increasing population BMI, and the significant association of BMI category with VTE incidence, the overall incidence of VTE remained unchanged over the timeframe, 1988–2000.

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.