 |
 |

Long-term Aspirin Use and Mortality in Women
Andrew T. Chan, MD, MPH;
JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH;
Diane Feskanich, ScD;
Meir J. Stampfer, MD, DrPH;
Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH;
Charles S. Fuchs, MD, MPH
Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(6):562-572.
Background The influence of long-term use of aspirin on total mortality in women remains uncertain.
Methods We conducted a prospective, nested, case-control study of 79 439 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study who had no history of cardiovascular disease or cancer. Women provided data on medication use biennially since 1980. We assessed relative risk (RR) of death according to aspirin use before diagnosis of incident cardiovascular disease or cancer and during the corresponding period for each control subject.
Results During 24 years, we documented 9477 deaths from all causes. In women who reported current aspirin use, the multivariate RR of death from all causes was 0.75 (95% confidence interval, 0.71-0.81) compared with women who never used aspirin regularly. The risk reduction was more apparent for death from cardiovascular disease (RR, 0.62; 95% confidence interval, 0.55-0.71) than for death from cancer (RR, 0.88; 95% confidence interval, 0.81-0.96). Use of aspirin for 1 to 5 years was associated with significant reductions in cardiovascular mortality (RR, 0.75; 95% confidence interval, 0.61-0.92). In contrast, a significant reduction in risk of cancer deaths was not observed until after 10 years of aspirin use (Plinear trend = .005). The benefit associated with aspirin was confined to low and moderate doses and was significantly greater in older participants (Pinteraction<.001) and those with more cardiac risk factors (Pinteraction = .02).
Conclusions In women, low to moderate doses of aspirin are associated with significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality, particularly in older women and those with cardiac risk factors. A significant benefit is evident within 5 years for cardiovascular disease, whereas a modest benefit for cancer is not apparent until after 10 years of use.
Author Affiliations: Gastrointestinal Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School (Dr Chan); Division of Preventive Medicine (Dr Manson) and Channing Laboratory (Drs Chan, Manson, Feskanich, Stampfer, Colditz, and Fuchs), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Department of Epidemiology (Drs Manson, Stampfer, and Colditz), Harvard School of Public Health; Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dr Fuchs), Boston, Mass.
CiteULike Connotea Del.icio.us Digg Reddit Technorati Twitter
What's this?
RELATED LETTERS
A Possible Overestimation of the Effect of Aspirin
Jaapjan D. Snoep, Olaf M. Dekkers, and Jan P. Vandenbroucke
Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(21):2372-2373.
EXTRACT
| FULL TEXT
A Possible Overestimation of the Effect of Aspirin—Reply
Andrew Chan and Charles S. Fuchs
Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(21):2373.
EXTRACT
| FULL TEXT
RELATED ARTICLE
Can Aspirin Keep Mortality at Bay?
John A. Baron
Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(6):535-536.
EXTRACT
| FULL TEXT
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES
 |
Thrombosis and Antithrombotic Therapy in Women
Bailey et al.
Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Bio. 2009;29:284-288.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitors in Colorectal Cancer Prevention: Counterpoint
Jankowski and Hunt
Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 2008;17:1858-1861.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
A Possible Overestimation of the Effect of Aspirin Reply
Chan and Fuchs
Arch Intern Med 2007;167:2373-2373.
FULL TEXT
A Possible Overestimation of the Effect of Aspirin
Snoep et al.
Arch Intern Med 2007;167:2372-2373.
FULL TEXT
Does Aspirin Lower Mortality in Women?
JWatch General 2007;2007:2-2.
FULL TEXT
Can Aspirin Keep Mortality at Bay?
Baron
Arch Intern Med 2007;167:535-536.
FULL TEXT
|