• Vanessa Selak, Rod Jackson, Katrina Poppe, Billy Wu, Matire Harwood, Corina Grey, Romana Pylypchuk, Suneela Mehta, Yeun-Hyang Choi, Andrew Kerr, and Sue Wells.
• University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand (V.S., R.J., K.P., B.W., M.H., C.G., R.P., S.M., Y.C., S.W.).
• Ann. Intern. Med. 2019 Oct 15; 171 (8): 529-539.

BackgroundWhether the benefits of aspirin for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) outweigh its bleeding harms in some patients is unclear.ObjectiveTo identify persons without CVD for whom aspirin would probably result in a net benefit.DesignIndividualized benefit-harm analysis based on sex-specific risk scores and estimates of the proportional effect of aspirin on CVD and major bleeding from a 2019 meta-analysis.SettingNew Zealand primary care.Participants245 028 persons (43.6% women) aged 30 to 79 years without established CVD who had their CVD risk assessed between 2012 and 2016.MeasurementsThe net effect of aspirin was calculated for each participant by subtracting the number of CVD events likely to be prevented (CVD risk score × proportional effect of aspirin on CVD risk) from the number of major bleeds likely to be caused (major bleed risk score × proportional effect of aspirin on major bleeding risk) over 5 years.Results2.5% of women and 12.1% of men were likely to have a net benefit from aspirin treatment for 5 years if 1 CVD event was assumed to be equivalent in severity to 1 major bleed, increasing to 21.4% of women and 40.7% of men if 1 CVD event was assumed to be equivalent to 2 major bleeds. Net benefit subgroups had higher baseline CVD risk, higher levels of most established CVD risk factors, and lower levels of bleeding-specific risk factors than net harm subgroups.LimitationsRisk scores and effect estimates were uncertain. Effects of aspirin on cancer outcomes were not considered. Applicability to non-New Zealand populations was not assessed.ConclusionFor some persons without CVD, aspirin is likely to result in net benefit.Primary Funding SourceHealth Research Council of New Zealand.

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