Evaluating Aspirin’s Efficacy for Primary Prevention in Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease: Insights from a Nationwide Cohort Study

TL;DR

A nationwide study in Korea found that low-dose aspirin does not significantly prevent heart or brain-related diseases and does not increase bleeding risks.

Contribution

This study provides new evidence on aspirin's efficacy for primary prevention in a Korean population using a large cohort.

Findings

Low-dose aspirin did not reduce the incidence of myocardial or cerebral infarctions.

Aspirin use did not increase the risk of gastrointestinal or cerebral hemorrhage.

Results suggest aspirin for primary prevention should be tailored to individual cardiovascular risk.

Abstract

Background: The effectiveness of aspirin for the primary prevention of cerebro-cardiovascular diseases in Koreans remains unclear. Therefore, we evaluated the preventive effects of low-dose aspirin (equal or less than 100 mg) on cerebro-cardiovascular events. Method: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the National Sample Cohort dataset. From the 1,106,580 individuals eligible in 2004, we selected 200 individuals (47% male and 22.5% aged 65 or older) who consistently received low-dose aspirin from 2004 to 2013 for inclusion in the aspirin cohort. Participants for the control cohort, who did not use aspirin, were selected through propensity score matching based on variables. Result: We compared the incidences of endpoints (acute myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, and cerebral hemorrhage) between the aspirin group and the non-aspirin group over the 9-year follow-up period. There was no significant difference in the incidence rates of acute myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, or cerebral hemorrhage between the aspirin and non-aspirin groups. Low-dose aspirin for primary prevention in Koreans did not reduce myocardial or cerebral infarctions and did not increase the risk of gastrointestinal or cerebral hemorrhage. Conclusion: Therefore, we suggest that aspirin for primary prevention should be used cautiously and tailored to the individual’s baseline cardiovascular risk.

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