MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Vanessa Selak MBChB, MPH (Hons), PhD, FAFPHM, FNZCPHM Senior Lecturer in the Section of Epidemiology & Biostatistics School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences University of Auckland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: For people who have already had a cardiovascular event, the benefits of aspirin generally outweigh its harms but the balance of benefits and risks is unclear in primary prevention. It was hoped that the results of three major trials published last year would determine whether or not aspirin had a role in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among people at intermediate risk of CVD, but these trials recruited participants at lower CVD risk than expected. An updated meta-analysis of aspirin for the primary prevention of CVD, which incorporated the findings from these three trials, has confirmed that aspirin reduces the relative risk of CVD and increases the relative risk of bleeding. We investigated, using an individualized assessment of the absolute cardiovascular benefits of aspirin and its bleeding harms among New Zealand adults aged 30-79 years without established CVD who had their CVD risk assessed in primary care between 2012 and 2016, whether there are individuals without established CVD for whom the absolute cardiovascular benefits of aspirin are likely to outweigh its absolute bleeding harms. (more…)