For older adults, aspirin seems to be overused and statins underused for cardiovascular (CV) event prevention, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Researchers conducted a repeated cross-sectional study using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2011 to 2018) involving 11,392 noninstitutionalized adults aged 50 and older. The authors examined agerelated trajectories of CV risk and use of aspirin and statins. They found that the prevalence of those eligible for primary prevention treatment of a CV event increased with age, from 31.8% to 52.0% for those aged 50-54 and 75 and older, respectively. There was also an increase seen with age in the prevalence of those eligible for secondary prevention treatment, from 2.7% to 21.1% in those aged 50-54 and 75 and older, respectively. With age, there was an increase in low-dose daily aspirin use; among adults aged 75 and older, 45.3% took low-dose aspirin daily for primary prevention. There was also an increase in statin use with age; among those aged 75 and older, 56.4% of adults had long-term statin use for secondary prevention.
