Effect of aspirin on activities of daily living disability in community-dwelling older adults

Background: Cerebrovascular events, dementia and cancer can contribute to physical disability with activities of daily living (ADL). It is unclear whether low-dose aspirin reduces this burden in aging populations. In a secondary analysis, we now examine aspirin's effects on incident and persistent ADL disability within a primary prevention aspirin trial in community-dwelling older adults.Methods: The ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) trial of daily 100mg aspirin versus placebo recruited 19,114 healthy adults aged 70+ years (65+ years if U.S. minority) in Australia and the U.S. Six basic ADLs were assessed every six months. Incident ADL disability was defined as inability or severe difficulty with ≥1 ADL; persistence was confirmed if the same ADL disability remained after six months. Proportional hazards modelling compared time to incident or persistent ADL disability for aspirin versus placebo; death without prior disability was a competing risk.Results: Over a median 4.7 years, incident ADL disability was similar in those receiving aspirin (776/9525) and placebo (787/9589) with walking, bathing, dressing and transferring the most commonly reported. Only 24% of incident ADL disability progressed to persistent. Persistent ADL disability was lower in the aspirin group (4.3 versus 5.3 events/1000py; HR=0.81, 95% CI:0.66-1.00), with bathing and dressing the most common ADL disabilities in both groups. Following persistent ADL disability there were more deaths in the aspirin group (24 versus 12).Discussion: Low-dose aspirin in initially healthy older people did not reduce risk of incident ADL disability, although there was evidence of reduced persistent ADL disability

The effect of low-dose aspirin on frailty phenotype and frailty index in community-dwelling older adults in the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly study

Advance Access publication November 10, 2021BACKGROUND: Frailty is associated with chronic inflammation, which may be modified by aspirin. The purpose of this study was to determine whether low dose aspirin reduces incident frailty in healthy older adult participants of the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) trial. METHODS: In the U.S and Australia, 19,114 community-dwelling individuals aged ≥70 years (U.S minorities ≥65 years) and free of overt cardiovascular disease, persistent physical disability, and dementia, were enrolled in ASPREE, a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 100mg daily aspirin versus placebo. Frailty, a pre-specified study endpoint, was defined according to a modified Fried frailty definition (Fried frailty) and the frailty index based on the deficit accumulation model (frailty index). Competing risk Cox proportional hazards models were used to compare time to incident frailty by aspirin versus placebo. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to include frailty data with and without imputation of missing data. RESULTS: Over a median 4.7 years, 2252 participants developed incident Fried frailty, and 4451 had incident frailty according to the frailty index. Compared with placebo, aspirin treatment did not alter the risk of incident frailty (Fried frailty HR: 1.04, 95% CI 0.96-1.13; frailty index HR: 1.03, 95% CI 0.97-1.09). The proportion of individuals classified as frail, and the trajectory in continuous frailty scores over time, were not different between the aspirin and placebo treatment groups. The results were consistent across a series of subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: Low dose aspirin use in healthy older adults when initiated in older ages does not reduce risk of incident frailty or the trajectory of frailty.Sara E Espinoza, Robyn L Woods, A R M Saifuddin Ekram, Michael E Ernst, Galina Polekhina, Rory Wolfe ... et al