Aspirin inappropriately prescribed to prevent heart attack
More than 10% of patients in the US receiving low-dose daily aspirin to prevent a first heart attack or stroke are likely to have been prescribed the medication inappropriately.
The study was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and was led by a team at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX.
The researchers note that as aspirin is also available over the counter, it is possible that inappropriate use may be higher than their figure suggests because of patients medicating themselves against the risk of primary cardiovascular events.
From the published guidelines, the researchers determined that daily aspirin use would be inappropriate in patients whose 10-year cardiovascular risk was under 6%.
They then used this rule to analyze data on a nationwide sample of 69,000 patients receiving aspirin for primary cardiovascular disease prevention. The sample came from the National Cardiovascular Disease Registry Practice Innovation and Clinical Excellence (PINNACLE) Registry.
The patients in the sample were attending 119 practices when they were prescribed aspirin between January 2008 and June 2013. The researchers excluded patients who had already experienced a cardiovascular event – such as heart attack or stroke – or who were affected by heart conditions like atrial fibrillation.
The analysis showed nearly 12% of patients in the nationwide sample probably should not have been prescribed aspirin to prevent primary cardiovascular disease.
Category: Features, Wellness and Complementary Therapies
