Outpatient Treatment of Deep Vein Thrombosis in the United States: The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study.

Abstract

To describe the uptake of outpatient DVT treatment in the United States and understand how comorbidities and socioeconomic conditions impact the decision to treat as an outpatient. The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke cohort study recruited 30,329 participants between 2003 and 2007. DVT events were ascertained through 2011. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the correlates of outpatient treatment of DVT accounting for age, sex, race, education, income, urban or rural residence, and region of residence. Of 379 venous thromboembolism events, 141 participants had a DVT without diagnosed pulmonary embolism and that did not occur during hospitalization. Overall, 28% (39 of 141) of participants with DVT were treated as outpatients. In a multivariable model, the odds ratio for outpatient versus inpatient DVT treatment was 4.16 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.25-13.79) for urban versus rural dwellers, 3.29 (95% CI, 1.30-8.30) for white versus black patients, 2.41 (95% CI, 1.06-5.47) for women versus men, and 1.90 (95% CI, 1.19-3.02) for every 10 years younger in age. Living outside the southeastern United States and having higher education and income were not statistically significantly associated with outpatient treatment. Despite known safety and efficacy, only 28% of participants with DVT received outpatient treatment. This study highlights populations in which efforts could be made to reduce hospital admissions.