Regular use of aspirin for cardiovascular disease prevention in Italy

Only a few European studies focused on aspirin use in the general population. We provide updated information on the prevalence and determinants of regular aspirin use for the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the Italian adult population.

We used data from a survey conducted in Italy in 2013, on a sample of 3000 individuals, representative of the general Italian population aged ≥15years.

Overall, 10.9% of Italians reported a regular use of aspirin, 11.2% of men and 10.5% of women. Aspirin use significantly increased with age. The highest prevalence of aspirin use was observed among the elderly (30.3%), ex-smokers (22.6%), and in individuals with a diagnosis of diabetes (52.0%), hypertension (42.6%) or hypercholesterolemia (38.6%). After adjustment for several covariates, no significant heterogeneity in aspirin use was observed according to education, body mass index, and physical activity. Only 1.2% of low CVD risk individuals regularly used aspirin versus 48.3% of individuals with high CVD risk.

About 3.4million high CVD risk Italians do not regularly use aspirin for primary or secondary prevention. Thus, more widespread preventive strategy is recommended for this population, once individual benefits of regular aspirin use exceed harms.