Daily Aspirin No Longer Recommended for Stroke Prevention in Older Adults — Although Millions Still Take It
A new survey found that 1 in 5 adults “who say they have no personal or family history of heart attack or stroke,” reported “routinely” taking a low-dose aspirin
Nearly half of U.S. adults still believe that the benefits of taking low-dose aspirin daily outweighs the risks — despite new guidance that suggests otherwise, according to a new survey.
The survey published Monday, Feb. 3 by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) at the University of Pennsylvania found that 48% of people still “incorrectly” believe that there are more benefits to taking “low-dose aspirin every day to reduce the chance of heart attack or stroke” despite an increased risk for bleeding.
Nearly one in five adults “who say they have no personal or family history of heart attack or stroke,” reported in the survey that they “routinely” took a low-dose aspirin, with 10% saying they take it “basically every day.” Additionally, 6% of respondents also noted that they took it “a few times a month,” while 2% said they took it “a few times a week.”
The survey also noted that older age groups believed that the benefits of taking a low-dose aspirin daily outweighed the risks. The results revealed that 57% of respondents over 60 years old and 51% of people between the ages of 40 and 59 found the benefits outweighed the risks, while only 24% of people between the ages of 18 and 49 believed the same.
Related: Healthy Adults No Longer Need to Take Daily Aspirin to Prevent Heart Attacks
“Habits backed by conventional wisdom and the past advice of health care providers are hard to break,” Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the APPC and director of the survey, said in a statement. “Knowing whether taking a low-dose aspirin daily is advisable or not for you is vital health information.”
Doctors’ previous suggestion of routinely taking low-dose aspirin was due to the medication’s work “as a blood thinner,” which reduced “clotting that can clog arteries and lead to heart attack or stroke,” per the APPC.
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However, further studies have shown that taking low-dose aspirin daily can increase the risk of bleeding in some older adults — including bleeding in the stomach, intestines, and brain, which can be life-threatening — which the experts say "cancels out the benefits of preventing heart disease."
"This [revised] recommendation only applies to people who are at higher risk for CVD [cardiovascular disease], have no history of CVD, and are not already taking daily aspirin," the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force previously announced in 2022.
Related: New Study Finds Low-Dose Aspirin Associated with Bleeding in the Skull — What to Know
The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology made a similar joint decision in 2019 in which they recommended those ages 70 and older not take aspirin daily due to a high risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, according to NBC News.
"Aspirin only has a benefit if someone is at increased risk for heart disease. They shouldn't be starting just because they have reached a certain age," Dr. Chien-Wen Tseng, a member of the 16-person panel, told the outlet.
Heart disease and stroke are among the leading causes of death in the U.S., accounting for roughly one in three deaths in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
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