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Use of preventive measures for air travel‐related venous thrombosis in professionals who attend medical conferences
Author(s) -
KUIPERS S.,
CANNEGIETER S. C.,
MIDDELDORP S.,
ROSENDAAL F. R.,
BÜLLER H. R.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of thrombosis and haemostasis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.947
H-Index - 178
eISSN - 1538-7836
pISSN - 1538-7933
DOI - 10.1111/j.1538-7836.2006.02204.x
Subject(s) - air travel , venous thrombosis , medicine , thrombosis , medical emergency , family medicine , aviation , engineering , aerospace engineering
Summary. Background: Lack of guidelines for prevention of air travel‐related venous thrombosis may lead to excessive use of potentially dangerous precautions. Objectives: To assess the use of preventive measures for air travel‐related thrombosis in professionals employed in the field of thrombosis and hemostasis and in other fields. Methods: A survey amongst delegates of the XXth ISTH Congress, the 15th ISDB Congress and the 13th Cochrane Colloquium, which all took place in Australia 2005. Results: Two thousand and eighty‐nine questionnaires were completed (response 53%). Overall, 80% of the respondents had used preventive measures. Low‐molecular‐weight heparin and vitamin K antagonists were mostly used by ISTH delegates (10% vs. 1% at the other conferences). Medical doctors used more pharmacological prophylaxis (31%) than research fellows (11%) and non‐clinical scientists (22%). Dutch (64%) and Asian respondents (67%) least used any prevention, whereas Israeli used most (94%). Subjects with risk factors for thrombosis more often used prophylaxis (90%) than those without (77%). In a multivariate analysis, conference, nationality, age, presence of risk factors and profession were determinants of prophylaxis use. Conclusion: Major differences in the use of prophylactic measures for air travel‐related thrombosis stress the need for studies of interventions and clear guidelines on prevention of air travel‐related venous thrombosis.