Millions at Risk: Alarm Raised Over Widespread Aspirin Use in Older Adults

The findings emphasize the urgent need for physicians to ask about aspirin use.
Despite guidelines advising against it, many older adults continue to use aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, highlighting the need for more physician involvement in medication management.

A study encompassing approximately 150 million adults each year indicates that many older adults continue to use aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD), despite guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association advising otherwise. The study’s authors emphasize the critical need for doctors to ask about aspirin usage and to review its potential benefits and risks with elderly patients. These findings have been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.