Objective To explore the correlation between risk factors in respiratory department patients and the occurrence of venous thromboembolism (VTE), and to evaluate the optimization of the Padua score for predicting VTE occurrence in hospitalized respiratory patients based on these correlations. The effectiveness of the modified assessment model for VTE prediction was also validated. Methods A retrospective study was conducted, involving 51 VTE patients who were hospitalized in the Respiratory Department of Huaian First People’s Hospital from March 2019 to July 2023. These patients were compared with 1,600 non-VTE patients who were discharged during the same period. Clinical data, including medical history and laboratory test results, were retrospectively collected from both groups. The correlation between clinical data and VTE occurrence was analyzed, and highly relevant risk factors were incorporated into the Padua score. The modified Padua risk assessment model was applied to all patients and validated in a validation group. The scores from both the original and modified risk assessment models were compared to evaluate the effectiveness of the modified Padua score. Results Rank sum tests showed significant differences in basic information, such as age, BMI, and length of hospital stay, as well as laboratory tests including mean corpuscular volume, procalcitonin, albumin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, urea, and D-dimer (P<0.05). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that newly identified high-risk factors for VTE included hypoalbuminemia (OR=2.972), blood transfusion (OR=47.035), and mechanical ventilation (OR=6.782) (P<0.05). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the sensitivity and specificity of the modified Padua score were higher than those of the original version. The area under the curve (AUC) difference was 0.058, with a Z-test value of 2.442, showing statistical significance (P<0.05). Conclusions The modified Padua score demonstrated superior predictive ability for VTE in hospitalized respiratory patients compared to the original Padua score.