Rise in aspirin use seen among US adults
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The number of US adults who regularly take aspirin for its heart benefits rose about 20 percent from 1999 to 2003, and the Healthy People 2010 objective of having at least 30 percent of diabetics take aspirin on a regular basis has been met, according to a new report.
The main reason people are using the drug is to reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke.
The findings, which appear in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, indicate that 36.2 percent of adults at least 35 years of age used aspirin daily or every other day in 2003. The proportion among those with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes was even higher - 82.8 and 62.6 percent, respectively.
Umed A. Ajani, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues estimated rates of aspirin use in 2003 by analyzing data for 67,697 subjects entered in the Behavioral Factor Surveillance System.
A key focus of the study was to investigate aspirin use among diabetics. The American Diabetes Association recommends aspirin as a preventive agent for people with diabetes, who are at risk for or have already experienced a heart attack or stroke. The Healthy People 2010 objective called for a rise in aspirin use among diabetics from 20 percent in the early 1990s to 30 percent.
As noted, overall aspirin use rose by 20 percent from 1999 to 2003. Aspirin use among diabetics and those with CVD increased by 35 and 12 percent, respectively. Moreover, a rise in aspirin use was noted in all adults regardless of age, gender, educational level, general health status, smoking status, and body weight, the investigators point out.
In subjects without diabetes or CVD, aspirin use increased as the number of CVD risk factors, such as high blood pressure, rose. Seventy-four percent of subjects cited cardiovascular reasons for their aspirin intake.
“The implication is that doctors and the media and paid advertising by (aspirin manufacturers) have had a positive impact,” Dr. Richard Stein, a cardiologist and a spokesperson for the American Heart Association, said in a statement. “The approximately one-third reduction in heart attacks and fatal heart attacks in patients taking aspirin will help reduce the death and disability from coronary heart disease in the US.”
SOURCE: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, January 2005.
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