PB0002 - Low prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in persons aged fifty years or younger with venous thromboembolism

Background: The risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is elevated in individuals with a history of venous thromboembolism (VTE). It is uncertain whether younger patients, aged < 50, who are typically not included in CVD risk prevention screening programs, have an increased prevalence of potentially modifiable CVD risk factors that could be targeted for prevention.

Aims: To compare the prevalence of potentially modifiable CVD risk factors (i.e., overweight/obesity, smoking, alcohol use, physical inactivity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia) in persons ≤50 years with a history of VTE with controls.

Methods: Using data from the MEGA case-control study comprising 2627 cases with first VTE and 3657 controls (1749 partner-controls and 1908 random digit dialing (RDD) controls), all aged ≤50 years, we estimated differences between proportions of risk factors in cases and controls with 95% confidence intervals (CI). We stratified for partner-controls and RDD controls as partner-controls were more likely to share lifestyles similar to cases.

Results: The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, excessive alcohol intake and dyslipidemia was low and not different between cases, partner- and RDD-controls. The prevalence of obesity was higher among cases (21%) than RDD-controls (9%). When stratified for sex , the prevalence of obesity was highest in women with 24.9% in cases vs 9.9% in RDD-controls: difference 15.0% (95% CI: 12.4-17.6)); in men this was 15.7% and 9.1%, (difference 6.6% (3.5-9.7)). Cases were also more sedentary than RDD: in women 57.8% of cases vs 41.1% in RDD-controls and in men, 48.7% vs 41.5% respectively.

Conclusion(s): In persons aged ≤50 years with VTE, the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and alcohol intake were similar to controls from the general population, suggesting a limited yield of screening of these factors in young VTE patients. Weight reduction strategies and increased physical activity are potential targets for CVD prevention.