Economic burden and cost determinants of deep vein thrombosis during 2 years following diagnosis: a prospective evaluation

Summary.  Background: Few studies have evaluated the long‐term economic consequences of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). None of them have incorporated prospectively collected clinical data to ensure accurate identification of incident cases of DVT and DVT‐related health outcomes of interest, such as post‐thrombotic syndrome (PTS). Objectives: To prospectively quantify medical and non‐medical resource use and costs related to DVT during 2 years following diagnosis, and to identify clinical determinants of costs. Methods: Three hundred and fifty‐five consecutive patients with acute DVT were recruited at seven Canadian hospital centers. Resource use and cost information were retrieved from three sources: weekly patient‐completed cost diaries, nurse‐completed case report forms, and the Quebec provincial administrative healthcare database (RAMQ). Results: The rate of DVT‐related hospitalization was 3.5 per 100 patient‐years (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.2–4.9). Patients reported a mean (standard deviation) of 15.0 (14.5) physician visits and 0.7 (1.2) other healthcare professional visits. The average cost of DVT was $5180 (95% CI $4344–6017) in Canadian dollars, with 51.6% of costs being attributable to non‐medical resource use. Multivariate analysis identified four independent predictors of costs: concomitant pulmonary embolism (relative increase in cost [RIC] 3.16; 95% CI 2.18–4.58), unprovoked DVT (RIC 1.65; 95% CI 1.28–2.13), development of PTS during follow‐up (RIC 1.35; 95% CI 1.05–1.74), and management of DVT in the inpatient setting (RIC 1.79; 95% CI 1.33–2.40). Conclusions: The economic burden of DVT is substantial. The use of measures to prevent the occurrence of PTS and favoring outpatient care of DVT has the potential to diminish costs.