Rates of venous thromboembolism associated with acute psychiatric admission: A retrospective cohort study

The present study aimed to identify rates of venous thromboembolism (VTE) amongst patients treated in inpatient mental health units using linked primary care and mental health care records. Patients resident in the London Borough of Lambeth admitted to mental health units in Southeast London between January 2008 and March 2019 were included, as well as a control group of patients being treated in the community for mental illness. The primary outcome measure was a diagnosis of VTE being recorded in GP records during or within 3 months of an admission to a mental health unit. For 7,198 psychiatric inpatient admissions, 11 episodes of VTE (1.5/1,000 admissions) were identified, with no VTE cases identified in 4,561 patients being treated in the community for mental illness during an equivalent window. This finding indicates that VTE rates following psychiatric inpatient admission might be similar to those following unselected acute medical admission. Larger scale studies are required to confirm the estimated incidence of VTE in patients with mental health conditions and the contribution of acute psychiatry hospitalisation to VTE risk.