Systematic Review

Low-dose aspirin as primary prevention for adults without cardiovascular disease

Klausner, Shira MSN, AGACNP-BC, CEN (Nurse Practitioner)¹

¹The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Correspondence: Shira Klausner, BSN, RN, CEN, The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Montgomery Ave, Apt 301, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004. Tel: (248) 943-0235; E-mail: [email protected]

Competing interests: The author reports no conflicts of interest.

Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal's Web site (www.jaanp.com).

Authors' contributions: S. Klausner, the sole author, conducted the literature search and wrote the manuscript independently.

Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners 34(12):p 1271-1277, December 2022. | DOI: 10.1097/JXX.0000000000000792

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Abstract

Background:

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Patients with cardiovascular disease risk factors are often put on low-dose aspirin to prevent future cardiovascular events and cardiovascular death. However, the evidence supporting this practice is limited.

Objective:

To examine whether adults without a history of cardiovascular disease benefit from taking daily low-dose aspirin as primary prevention for cardiovascular disease and death.

Data sources:

The four databases of PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and Ovid were used, and a total of 67 nonduplicate articles were reviewed. After examining those articles, four studies were included. Of the four studies, three were randomized controlled trials, and one was a retrospective cohort study.

Conclusions:

All four studies concluded that daily low-dose aspirin used for primary prevention does not lower the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

Implications for practice:

Further research needs to be conducted to determine whether daily low-dose aspirin is beneficial in individuals without a history of cardiovascular disease. Nurse practitioners need to know the most current evidence-based practice recommendations to appropriately counsel patients about whether they should be taking low-dose aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease.