Incidence of Venous Thromboembolism In Korea: From Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service Database.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), represents a major health concern with an annual incidence of 70 to 113 cases per 100,000 Caucasians. Although historically lower than in Caucasians, its incidence among Asians is anticipated to increase rapidly with widespread Westernization of diet and lifestyle.

This population-based study investigated the incidence of VTE in Korea. The National Health Insurance (NHI) is the only public medical insurance system operated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Korea. All Korean are required to possess NHI service. Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) is a government-affiliated organization to build an accurate claims review and quality assessment system for the NHI. Using the Korean HIRA database, VTE patients from 2004 to 2008 were retrospectively identified by both diagnostic codes and medication codes for drugs used in initial treatment of VTE.

The respective age- and sex-adjusted annual incidences of VTE, DVT alone, and PE (with or without DVT) per 100,000 individuals increased significantly from 8.83, 3.91, and 3.74 in 2004 to 13.8, 5.31, and 7.01 in 2008 (P = 0.0001) with successive increments each year. The annual incidence of VTE, DVT alone, and PE (with or without DVT) for both men and women steadily increased over time (Fig 1). Specifically, the annual incidence of PE (with or without DVT) for both sexes significantly increased during the last 2 years studied (2007 to 2008). All three annual incidences also increased steadily with age (P = 0.0001 for all) particularly among those over 60 years old.

This represents the largest epidemiologic study which demonstrate the lower incidence of VTE and increasing incidence of VTE in Korean population.

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.