Association of Aspirin Use in Primary Prevention and Cardiovascular Events: A Retrospective Analysis of the VITAL Cohort

Background: Aspirin is part of the therapeutic antithrombotic armamentarium for the management of patients with established clinically relevant atherosclerosis or thrombotic cardiovascular disease. Personalized medicine identifies those who benefit most or face fewer risks from aspirin. The role of aspirin in primary prevention is still debatable. We aimed to assess the risks and benefits of aspirin in this setting, using the data of the prospective VITAL (VITamins and Lifestyle) study. Methods: We conducted a retrospective evaluation of the VITAL cohort. In this analysis, participants were split according to aspirin usage. Aspirin use was evaluated regarding all-cause mortality, CV mortality, major cardiovascular event (MACE), myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, total stroke, and hemorrhagic stroke. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated to explore the association between cardiovascular events and aspirin usage. The estimates were adjusted for demographic and clinical variables. Results: The aspirin users (n = 11,570) were older, more frequently men, the body mass index was higher, and the proportion of smokers was smaller compared with non-users (n = 13,927). After adjusting for demographic and clinical variables, aspirin was not identified as a predictor of cardiovascular death (HR 1.17, 95%CI 0.89 to 1.55), major cardiovascular events (HR 1.04, 95%CI 0.89 to 1.22), coronary heart disease (HR 1.16, 95%CI 0.98 to 1.37), nor stroke (HR 1.01, 95%CI 0.77 to 1.31). Conclusion: In this retrospective analysis of the VITAL cohort, aspirin was not associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular mortality or events.