Association between pneumoconiosis and pulmonary emboli. A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Taiwan.

Link to article at PubMed

Association between pneumoconiosis and pulmonary emboli. A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Taiwan.

Thromb Haemost. 2015 Jan 15;113(4)

Authors: Shen CH, Chen HJ, Lin TY, Huang WY, Li TC, Kao CH

Abstract
Studies on the association between pneumoconiosis and deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary thromboembolism (PE) are few. This study was based on data obtained from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database from 2000 to 2006, with a follow-up period extending to the end of 2011. Patients with pneumoconiosis and comparison controls were selected using 1:4 matching based on a propensity score, which was calculated using a logistic regression to estimate the probability of the treatment assignment according to the baseline variables of age, sex, and the Charlson comorbidity index score. We analysed the risks of DVT and PE by using Cox proportional hazards regression models by including sex, age, and comorbidities. A total of 3,719 pneumoconiosis patients and 14,876 controls were enrolled in the study. The risk of developing PE was 1.90-fold in the patients with pneumoconiosis compared with the comparison cohort after adjustments for age, sex, and comorbidities. By contrast, the risk of developing DVT was similar in the patients with and without pneumoconiosis. The multiplicative increased risks of PE were significant in patients with pneumoconiosis who exhibited any comorbidity. In conclusion, physicians should include pneumoconiosis in evaluating pulmonary embolism risk.

PMID: 25588465 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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