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. 2022 Oct 12;12(10):e065892. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-065892

Table 1.

Study and population characteristics

Author, year Country Design Single/ multicentre Sample size Population Period Mean age (years) VTE prophylaxis RAMs evaluated Target condition, definition (risk period) Incidence
Antepartum and postpartum following vaginal and caesarean delivery
Bauersachs et al, 200723 Germany P, NRS Multi 810 Women at increased risk of VTE (due to thromboembolic status and prior VTE) March 1999 to December 2002 30.8 100%

  • EThIG

 Antepartum and postpartum VTE, symptomatic (NR) 0.62%
(antepartum: 0.25%; postpartum: 0.37%)
Chauleur et al, 200827 France P, CS Single 2685 All women who delivered July 2002 to June 2003 NR
(median, 29)		 NR

  • STRATHEGE

 Antepartum and postpartum VTE (NR) 0.34%
(antepartum: 0.19%; postpartum: 0.15%)
Dargaud et al, 201728 France P, CS Single 445 Women at increased risk of VTE (due to thromboembolic status and prior VTE) January 2005 to January 2015 33 100%

  • Lyon

 Antepartum and postpartum VTE, not defined (pregnancy and 3 months postpartum) 1.35%
Dargaud et al, 200529 France R, CS Single 116 Women at increased risk of VTE (due to thromboembolic status and prior VTE) 2001 to 2003 34 53%

  • Lyon

 Antepartum and postpartum VTE, not defined (NR) 0.86%
(antepartum only)
Hase et al, 201831 Brazil P, CS Single 52 Hospitalised pregnant women with cancer 1 December 2014 to 31 July 2016 31 57.7%

  • RCOG (modified)

 Antepartum and postpartum VTE, not defined (pregnancy and 3 months postpartum) Unable to estimate—no VTE
Shacaluga and Rayment, 2019 (correspondence)34 Wales R, CS Single 42 000 All managed pregnancies 2009 to 2015 NR NR

  • All Wales

  • RCOG

 Antepartum and postpartum VTE, not defined (NR) 0.08%
(antepartum: 0.04%; postpartum: 0.04%)
Testa et al, 201536 Italy P, CS Single 1719 All pregnant women enrolled in Pregnancy Healthcare Program January 2008 to December 2010 NR
(median 33)		 4.6%

  • Novel (Testa)

 Antepartum and postpartum VTE (NR) Unable to estimate—no VTE
Weiss and Bernstein, 200038 USA CC Single 19 cases: 57 control* Women with (confirmed cases) and without (unmatched control) VTE 1987 to 1998 NR NR

  • Novel (Weiss)

 Antepartum and postpartum VTE, not defined (pregnancy and 6 weeks postpartum) –
Postpartum only following vaginal and caesarean delivery
Chau et al, 201926 France R, CS Single 1069
(time period
2012: 557;
2015: 512)		 All women who delivered February to April 2012 and February to April 2015 2012: 29
2015: 29		 NR

  • Novel (Chau)

 Postpartum VTE, not defined (8 weeks) 2012: 0.18%
2015: 0.20%
Ellis-Kahana et al, 202039 † USA R, CS Multi 83 500 All obese women (BMI >30 kg/m2) who delivered 2002 to 2008 27.8 NR

  • Novel (Ellis-Kahana)

 Postpartum VTE (NR) 0.13%
Gassmann et al, 202130 Switzerland R, CS‡ Single 344 All women who delivered 1–31 January 2019 32.2 24%

  • RCOG

  • ACOG

  • ACCP

  • ASH

 Postpartum VTE, not defined (3 months) Unable to estimate—no VTE
Lindqvist et al, 200832 Sweden CC Single 37 cases: 2384 control All women with (confirmed cases) and without (unselected population-based control) VTE 1990 to 2005 NR NR

  • SFOG (Swedish guidelines)

 Postpartum VTE (NR) –
Sultan et al, 201635 England (derivation)§ and, Sweden (validation) R, CS Multi 662 387 (validation cohort)§ All women (with no history of VTE) who delivered 1 July 2005 to 31 December 2011 30.32 3%

  • Novel (Sultan)

  • RCOG§

  • SFOG (Swedish Guidelines)

 Postpartum VTE
(6 weeks)		 0.08%
(validation cohort)
Tran et al, 201937 USA R, CS Single 6094 All women who delivered after 14 weeks 01 January 2015 to 31 December 2016 NR NR

  • RCOG

  • Padua

  • Caprini

 Postpartum VTE (6 months) 0.05%
Postpartum following caesarean delivery
Binstock and Larkin, 2019 (abstract)24 USA R, CS Single 2875 Postpartum women following CD 2011 NR NR

  • Novel (Binstock)

  • RCOG

 Postpartum VTE, not defined (NR) 0.38%
Cavazza et al, 201225 Italy P, CS Single 501 Postpartum women following CD 2007 to 2009 34 53.5%

  • Novel (Cavazza)

 Postpartum VTE, symptomatic, not defined (90 days) 0.20%
Lok et al, 201933 Hong Kong P, CS Single 859 Postpartum women following CD May 2017 to April 2018 32.9 3.3%

  • Novel (Lok)

  • RCOG

  • ACOG

 Postpartum VTE, symptomatic, not defined (NR) Unable to estimate—no VTE

*Retrospective case–control study of pregnant and postpartum women, but data reported for antepartum period only due to low number of postpartum VTE events (n=2).

†Internal validation study (ie, prediction model development without external validation).

‡Prospective cohort study with retrospective analysis, thus classified as retrospective cohort study.

§RCOG was applied to an English derivation cohort, n=433 353, incidence, 0.07% (312 events).

ACCP, American College of Chest Physicians; ACOG, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; ASH, American Society of Hematology; BMI, body mass index; CC, case–control; CD, caesarean delivery; CS, cohort study; EThIG, Efficacy of Thromboprophylaxis as an Intervention during Gravidity Investigators; NR, not reported; NRS, non-randomised study; P, prospective; R, retrospective; RAM, risk assessment model; RCOG, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists; SFOG, Swedish Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology; VTE, venous thromboembolism.