Abstract:Objective To explore the epidemiological and clincal features of venous thromboembolism (VTE) among the elderly in-patients in the Internal Medicine Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Methods A retrospective analysis was made in 3115 hospitalized patients in the Department of Internal Medicine of Peking Union Medical College Hospital from May 2016 to September 2016. According to age, they were divided into elderly group (≥65 years old, n=771) and non-elderly group (<65 years, n=2344). Baseline information, the incidence of symptomatic VTE and VTE prophylaxis in 3 months after discharge was collected and compared, and the relative risk factors of VTE in the 2 groups were compared. SPSS statistics 23.0 was used for statistical processing. Student’s t test or Chi-square test were employed for different data types. Univariate analysis of variance was used for multigroup comparison. The risk factors of VTE were analyzed by logistic regression. Results The total morbidity rate of VTE was 2.50%(78/3115), and the incidence of VTE in the elderly and non-elderly group was 3.11%(24/771) and 2.30%(54/2344) without statistical significance (P=0.249). The incidence of VTE among the patients over 40 years old tended to increase with age, but no significant difference was observed among all age groups. The incidence of VTE in ICU was the highest (42.86%,3/7) and was significantly higher than that in other departments (P<0.05). A significant increase was seen in the elderly group against the non-elderly group in hypertension, high risk based on Padua model, active malignant tumor/chemotherapy, diabetes, coronary heart disease, heart and/or respiratory failure, acute myocardial infarction and/or ischemic stroke, while glucocorticoid treatment, inflammatory bowel disease and thrombophilic predisposition were significantly decreased (P<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the history of VTE (OR=63.316,5%CI 19.355-207.127) coupled with the use of estrogen and progesterone (OR=133.278, 95%CI 9.660-1838.773) were independent risk factors for the elderly patients with VTE (P<0.001). Anticoagulant or mechanical prevention before onset was not administered in 48.72%(38/78) VTE patients and 54.17%(13/24) elderly VTE patients. Conclusion VTE incidence of in-patients in the Internal Medicine Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital increases with age, warranting more emphasis on the prevention of VTE events in elderly patients, especially those with previous VTE history and those using estrogen and progesterone.