Association between self-rated health and venous thromboembolism in Malmö Preventive Program: A cohort study

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) share some risk factors such as smoking, obesity, and dietary habits. Poor self-rated health (SRH) has been shown to be a predictor of arterial CVD and mortality for both men and women. The association between SRH and VTE has only been investigated in one previous Swedish study with a cohort that just contained women. This Swedish study did not show any significant associations between poor SRH and VTE in women. Methods: A cohort of 22,444 men and 10,902 women in the Malmö Preventive Program was followed for a period of 44 years. All participants in the baseline screening with measurements including SRH were traced in national registers. Data on VTE events were collected from national hospital registries. Cox proportional regression analysis was used to calculate the association between SRH and time to VTE. Results: During a follow-up time of 44.31 years, a total of 2612 individuals were affected by VTE. Good SRH was associated with a lower risk for VTE in women both in the univariate model (HR = 0.75, CI = 0.65–0.85) and after adjustments for age, smoking, BMI and varicose veins (HR = 0.81, CI 0.70–0.93). SRH was not a predictor for VTE in men, neither in the unadjusted (HR = 1.05, CI 0.90–1.13) nor in the fully adjusted model (HR = 1.00, CI = 0.88–1.14). Conclusion: In this cohort study, SRH was associated with VTE in women but not among men. The association was significant even when adjusting for well-known risk factors such as varicose veins, BMI and smoking.