REGULAR USE OF LOW-DOSE ASPIRIN LINKED TO A 20% HIGHER RISK OF ANEMIA IN OLDER ADULTS

An analysis of the ASPREE (Aspirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) trial found that the use of low-dose aspirin was associated with a 20 per cent increased incidence of anaemia and a decline in ferritin, or blood iron levels, in otherwise healthy older adults. These findings suggest that periodic haemoglobin monitoring should be considered in older patients taking aspirin.

Although the risk for over bleeding due to aspirin has been well characterized, very few studies have measured the effect of aspirin on anemia, particularly in older populations.

Researchers from Monash University, Melbourne conducted a post-hoc analysis of the ASPREE randomized controlled trial. The trial included 19,114 persons aged 70 years or older who were randomly assigned to take 100 mg of aspirin daily or placebo.

Haemoglobin was measured annually, and ferritin was measured at baseline and 3 years after randomization. The data showed that the risk for developing anaemia was 23.5 per cent among those assigned to receive low-dose aspirin.

These results were accompanied by a small but greater decrease in mean haemoglobin and a greater decline in ferritin concentrations among those receiving aspirin.

Differences in clinically significant bleeding events did not account for the overall difference in incident anemia or the decline in ferritin observed in ASPREE but was most likely due to occult blood loss given the observed steeper decline in ferritin in participants allocated to aspirin.

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