March 7, 2005New England Journal of Medicine
A Randomized Trial of Low-Dose Aspirin in the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women
Why the study?
Does aspirin 100 mg on alternate days reduce the risk of a first major cardiovascular event in initially healthy women 45 years of age or older?
Population
39,876 initially healthy women 45 years of age or older
Comparison
Aspirin 100 mg on alternate days for 10 years vs Placebo
Design
RCT, Randomly assigned
Follow-up
10 years
Authors
Discussion
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Implication
Does not support routine aspirin for primary prevention in healthy women; challenges broad use and narrows indications to higher-risk groups.
Structured PICO
Does aspirin 100 mg on alternate days reduce the risk of a first major cardiovascular event in initially healthy women 45 years of age or older?
P
Population
39,876 initially healthy women 45 years of age or older
I
Intervention
Aspirin 100 mg on alternate days for 10 years
C
Comparator
Placebo
O
Outcome
First major cardiovascular event (composite of nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or death from cardiovascular causes) over 10 yearscomposite
In initially healthy women aged 45 and older, alternate-day low-dose aspirin did not significantly reduce the overall risk of major cardiovascular events, though it did reduce ischemic stroke risk at the expense of increased gastrointestinal bleeding.
Cite This Study
Ridker et al. (2005) studied this question.