Use of aspirin for primary and secondary cardiovascular disease prevention in the United States,2011-2012

Background: aspirin use has been shown to be an effective tool in cardiovascular disease (cvd) prevention among high-risk patients. the patient-reported physician recommendation for aspirin as preventive therapy among high- and low-risk patients is unknown. methods and results: we conducted an analysis of the national health and nutrition examination survey 2011-2012 to examine the use of aspirin for cvd prevention. patients without previously diagnosed cvd were classified into high and low risk based on their framingham risk score (10-year coronary heart disease risk). among patients without previously diagnosed cvd,22.5% were classified as high risk. of the high-risk individuals,40.9% reported being told by their physician to take aspirin,with 79.0% complying. among those who were at low risk,26.0% were told by their physician to take aspirin,with 76.5% complying. logistic regression analysis indicated that age,access to a regular source of care,education,and insurance status were significant predictors of patient-reported physician recommendations for aspirin use for primary prevention. among high-risk patients,age,race,and insurance status were significant predictors of reported recommendations for aspirin use. among low-risk patients,age,education,obesity,and insurance status were significant predictors of reported recommendations for aspirin use. conclusions: patient reports indicate nonideal rates of being told to take aspirin,for both high- and low-risk patients for primary prevention. clinical decision support tools that could assist physicians in identifying patients at risk may increase patient reports of physician recommendations for aspirin use. © 2014 the authors.