Low awareness of venous thromboembolism among the general population: a call for increased public enlightenment programs

Background.Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a notable but often ignored cause of disability and death. Improved public awareness of the symptoms and risks associated with VTE reduces the burden of disease. Aim. We aimed to determine the awareness of VTE among the general population. Methods. We conducted a population-based study using a pretested, pre-validated Ipsos-Reid questionnaire between October 2019 to March 2020. The questionnaire was distributed to consenting adults in the capital cities of Enugu and Ebonyi states of South-Eastern Nigeria to determine their awareness and knowledge of the symptoms and risk factors of VTE. Results. A total of 284 adults participated with a mean age of 32.73 ± 10.33 years and majority (70.8%) had a post-secondary education. While majority were aware of other medical conditions like a heart attack (96.1%), stroke (97.2%), diabetes (98.2%), HIV/AIDS (98.6%), cancer (97.2%) and malaria (98.2), just a few of the subjects were aware of thrombosis (41.5%) and DVT (33.8%). Less than half (42.4%) correctly described DVT as a blood clot in the vein and 13.7% of the respondents knew what PE feels like. A minority of them knew the risk factors of VTE included hospital stay (19.0%), surgery (37.2%), cancer (31.6%), pregnancy (31.6%) and old age (29.6%). Age and gender showed no statistically significant association with awareness of VTE, p value, 0.491 and 0.287, respectively. Conclusion. The awareness of VTE in the general population is low. Public awareness programs should be a public health priority to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with VTE.