Correlates of In-Hospital Deaths among Hospitalizations with Pulmonary Embolism: Findings from the 2001-2008 National Hospital Discharge Survey

Background: Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism (PE) are responsible for substantial mortality, morbidity, and impaired health-related quality of life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlates of in-hospital deaths among hospitalizations with a diagnosis of PE in the United States. Methods: By using data from the 2001-2008 National Hospital Discharge Survey, we assessed the correlates of in-hospital deaths among 14,721 hospitalizations with a diagnosis of PE and among subgroups stratified by age, sex, race, days of hospital stay, type of admission, cancer, pneumonia, and fractures. We produced adjusted rate ratios (aRR) and 95% confidence intervals using log-linear multivariate regression models. Results: Regardless of the listing position of diagnostic codes, we observed an increased likelihood of in-hospital death in subgroups of hospitalizations with ages 50 years and older (aRR = 1.82-8.48), less than 7 days of hospital stay (aRR = 1.43-1.57), cancer (aRR = 2.10-2.28), pneumonia (aRR = 1.79-2.20), or fractures (aRR = 2.18) (except for first-listed PE), when compared to the reference groups with ages 1-49 years, 7 days or more of hospital stay, without cancer, pneumonia, or fractures while adjusting for covariates. In addition, we observed an increased likelihood of in-hospital death for first-listed PE in hospitalizations of women, when compared to those of men (aRR = 1.45). Conclusions: The results of this study provide support for identifying, developing, and implementing effective, evidence-based clinical assessment and management strategies to reduce PE-related morbidity and mortality among hospitalized PE patients who may have concurrent health conditions including cancer, pneumonia, and fractures.