A hypothesis - generating Swedish extended national cross-sectional family study of multimorbidity severity and venous thromboembolism

• Published in: BMJ open Vol. 13; no. 6; p. e072934
• Main Authors: Ahrén, Jonatan, Pirouzifard, MirNabi, Holmquist, Björn, Sundquist, Jan, Halling, Anders, Sundquist, Kristina, Zöller, Bengt
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England British Medical Journal Publishing Group 16.06.2023; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Publishing Group
• Series: Original research
• Subjects: Age; Cardiovascular Medicine; Clinical Medicine; Comorbidity; Cross-Sectional Studies; EPIDEMIOLOGY; Female; Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi; GENERAL MEDICINE (see Internal Medicine); Health risk assessment; Health Sciences; Hospitals; Humans; Hälsovetenskap; Infectious diseases; Klinisk medicin; Male; Medical and Health Sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Multimorbidity; Older people; Parents & parenting; Primary Health Care; Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology; Reumatologi och inflammation; Rheumatology and Autoimmunity; Risk Factors; Siblings; Sweden - epidemiology; Thromboembolism; Thrombosis; Validity; Vascular medicine; Venous Thromboembolism - etiology; Sweden; Primary Health Care; Thromboembolism; GENERAL MEDICINE (see Internal Medicine); EPIDEMIOLOGY; Vascular medicine
• ISSN: 2044-6055; 2044-6055
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-072934

ObjectivesVenous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common worldwide disease. The burden of multimorbidity, that is, two or more chronic diseases, has increased. Whether multimorbidity is associated with VTE risk remains to be studied. Our aim was to determine any association between multimorbidity and VTE and any possible shared familial susceptibility.DesignA nationwide extended cross-sectional hypothesis - generating family study between 1997 and 2015.SettingThe Swedish Multigeneration Register, the National Patient Register, the Total Population Register and the Swedish cause of death register were linked.Participants2 694 442 unique individuals were analysed for VTE and multimorbidity.Main outcomes and measuresMultimorbidity was determined by a counting method using 45 non-communicable diseases. Multimorbidity was defined by the occurrence of ≥2 diseases. A multimorbidity score was constructed defined by 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 or more diseases.ResultsSixteen percent (n=440 742) of the study population was multimorbid. Of the multimorbid patients, 58% were females. There was an association between multimorbidity and VTE. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for VTE in individuals with multimorbidity (2 ≥ diagnoses) was 3.16 (95% CI: 3.06 to 3.27) compared with individuals without multimorbidity. There was an association between number of diseases and VTE. The adjusted OR was 1.94 (95% CI: 1.86 to 2.02) for one disease, 2.93 (95% CI: 2.80 to 3.08) for two diseases, 4.07 (95% CI: 3.85 to 4.31) for three diseases, 5.46 (95% CI: 5.10 to 5.85) for four diseases and 9.08 (95% CI: 8.56 to 9.64) for 5 ≥ diseases. The association between multimorbidity and VTE was stronger in males OR 3.45 (3.29 to 3.62) than in females OR 2.91 (2.77 to 3.04). There were significant but mostly weak familial associations between multimorbidity in relatives and VTE.ConclusionsIncreasing multimorbidity exhibits a strong and increasing association with VTE. Familial associations suggest a weak shared familial susceptibility. The association between multimorbidity and VTE suggests that future cohort studies where multimorbidity is used to predict VTE might be worthwhile.