Incidence of idiopathic venous thromboembolism in nurses.

The incidence of idiopathic deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in a group of nurses (9.4 per 1,000 per year and 7.5 per 1,000 per year respectively) was much higher than the reported incidence in women of childbearing age in the general population (0.65 per 1,000 per year and 0.11 per 1,000 per year respectively). We suggest that these results show that nurses face an increased risk of idiopathic thromboembolism as a result of their occupation.