Prevention & lipidsCohort study
Temporal trends in low-dose aspirin therapy for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in European adults with and without diabetes
- Nationwide registry-based cohort study
- Danish nationwide registries
- 2000–2020
Authors' conclusion
Aspirin therapy for primary prevention of CVD has decreased over the last two decades. However, the drug remained used in individuals with and without diabetes, and a large proportion of individuals started on aspirin therapy had no CVD risk factors.
Study context
- Population
- Danish adults ≥40 years without cardiovascular disease (CVD) eligible for primary preventive aspirin therapy, 2000–2020
- Participants
- 522,680 incident aspirin users
- Exposure
- Diabetes vs no diabetes
- Outcome
- Temporal trends in primary prevention aspirin use (incident and prevalent users)
- Follow-up
- 2000 through 2020
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Incident and prevalent aspirin users
- Incident users peak in 2002: 39 803 individuals
- 1.78%
- Incident users lowest in 2019: 11 898 individuals
- 0.49%
- Prevalent users peak in 2008
- 7.7%
- Prevalent users in 2020
- 3.3%
- Prevalent users with diabetes, peak in 2009
- 38.5%
- Prevalent users with diabetes in 2020
- 17.1%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Incident users with no CVD risk factors (diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia or COPD as smoking proxy)
- 2000
- 53.9%
- 2020
- 30.9%
Original publication
Temporal trends in low-dose aspirin therapy for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in European adults with and without diabetes. Eur J Prev Cardiol. Published 22 March 2023. doi:10.1093/eurjpc/zwad092
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it