Gender differences in the administration of prophylaxis to prevent deep venous thrombosis.

We investigated gender differences in the prescription of prophylaxis against deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in 2,619 patients who developed acute DVT while being hospitalized for reasons other than DVT or were diagnosed with acute DVT as outpatients but who had been hospitalized within 30 days prior to DVT diagnosis. Men were 21% more likely than women to receive prophylaxis (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.03-1.43; p=0.021) after adjusting for DVT risk factors, including surgery, trauma, prior DVT, age, and cancer.