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Objectives. We sought to document incidence, case-fatality, and recurrence rates of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in women and to explore the relationship of demographic, lifestyle, and anthropometric factors to VTE incidence. Methods. Data from participants aged 55 to 69 years in the Iowa Women's Health Study were linked to Medicare data for 1986 through 2004 (n=40377) to identify hospitalized VTE patients. Results. A total of 2137 women developed VTE, yielding an incidence rate of 4.04 per 1000 person-years. The 28-day case-fatality rate was 7.7%, and the 1-year recurrence rate was 3.4%. Educational attainment, physical activity, and age at menopause were inversely associated with VTE. Risk of secondary (particularly cancer-related) VTE was higher among smokers than among those who had never smoked. Body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, height, and diabetes were positively associated with VTE risk. Hormone replacement therapy use was associated with increased risk of idiopathic VTE. Conclusions. VTE is a significant source of morbidity and mortality in older women. Risk was elevated among women who were smokers, physically inactive, overweight, and diabetic, indicating that lifestyle contributes to VTE risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurs frequently. Greater height is associated with increased risk of incident VTE, but it is unclear whether height is related to risk of VTE recurrence. Recurrent VTE is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, thus identifying individuals at greatest risk of experiencing a recurrent event, who may benefit from extended anticoagulant therapy, is vitally important. Using data from the Iowa Women,s Health Study, we explored whether greater height was associated with increased risk of VTE recurrence.Among 1,691 women who experienced an initial VTE event, 286(16.9%) experienced a recurrent event. Risk of recurrence was 76%(95% CI: 16% -186%) higher among women >66 inches [168 cm] tall relative to those ≤62 inches [158 cm] tall, after adjustment for age and waist circumference. Future research should evaluate whether body height improves clinical prediction of VTE recurrence risk.