Temporal trends in pulmonary embolism prevalence in Greece during 2013–2017

• Published in: BMC public health Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 559 - 8
• Main Authors: Lampropoulos, Ioannis C., Raptis, Dimitrios G., Daniil, Zoe, Tasoulis, Sotirios K., Plagianakos, Vassilis P., Malli, Foteini, Gourgoulianis, Konstantinos I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 21.03.2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Age groups; Computerized physician order entry; Cor pulmonale; Data; Demographic aspects; Distribution; Embolism; Embolisms; Epidemiology; Females; Forecasts and trends; Health facilities; Health services; Males; Medical records; Mortality; Patients; Pharmacists; Prescribing patterns; Prescription drugs; Prescriptions; Prevalence; Primary care; Private sector; Public health; Public sector; Pulmonary embolism; Pulmonary embolisms; Statistical analysis; Thromboembolism; Trends; Greece; United States > US; China; Pulmonary embolism; Prevalence; Epidemiology; Prescribing patterns
• DOI: 10.1186/s12889-021-10621-2
• ISSN: 1471-2458

Pulmonary embolism (PE) epidemiological data about the disease prevalence in the general population are unclear. The present study aims to investigate the prevalence of PE in Greece and the associated temporal trends for the years 2013-2017. Data on medical prescriptions for PE in the years 2013-2017 were provided by the Greek National Health Service Organization (EOPYY). Data on age, gender, specialty of the prescribing physician and prescription unit were provided as well. The total number of medical prescriptions for PE for the study period was 101,426. Of the total prescriptions, 51% were issued by the Public Sector and 48% by the Private Sector. In 2013 the prevalence of PE was 5.43 cases per 100,000 citizens and increased constantly until 2017 with 23.79 cases per 100,000 population. Prevalence was higher in all years studied in the age group of 70-80 years. For the year 2017, we observed 69.35 cases per 100,000 population for subjects 70-80 years, followed by the ages 80-90 (60.58/100,000) and 60-70 years (56.47 /100,000). Females displayed higher PE prevalence than males and higher increasing trend. PE prevalence has an increasing trend throughout the years 2013-2017 while prevalence in females is higher than males and displays a higher increasing trend. Our results may be used to appropriately organize nationwide health care campaigns aiming at the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of PE.