Abstract

Objectives: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the number one cause of death in adults in the industrialized world, and several large studies show that aspirin is helpful for the primary prevention of this disease. Unfortunately, few physicians are aware of its benefit, resulting in the underutilization of aspirin for the primary prevention of CHD. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the underuse of aspirin for the primary prevention of CHD, and to improve appropriate utilization by implementing an easy-to-use clinic tool that quickly estimates a patient’s risk.

Patients and Methods: This is a retrospective cohort analysis conducted in the Internal Medicine Clinic in the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, California. Random samples of 494 patients before and 593 after intervention who were followed in the Internal Medicine Clinic were screened. Inclusion criteria were a 10-year risk of myocardial infarction or coronary death of more than 10%, or diabetes with one other cardiac risk factor. A poster was placed in each clinic examination room showing the Framingham Risk Score, the indications for aspirin use, and common contraindications to assist physicians in determining if a patient warranted aspirin for primary prevention of CHD. A physician documented regular use of aspirin, 81 to 325 mg per day.

Results: Age and sex demographics were similar between the two measurement groups. Diabetics comprised a significantly greater percentage of patients in the postintervention group. There was a trend toward increase in utilization of aspirin from 63.5% to 72.8% (P = 0.054) after our intervention. In subgroup analysis, significant improvement in appropriate aspirin use was found amongst males (P = 0.01) and nondiabetics (P = 0.02).

Conclusion: Aspirin has proven beneficial in the primary prevention of CHD, but is clearly underutilized in this role. By implementing the Framingham Risk Score to streamline the decision process, appropriate utilization can be improved, and in turn, cardiac events can be reduced and patients can benefit.

Key Points

* Aspirin has proven to be an inexpensive, well-tolerated preventive measure, and has the potential to substantially reduce the incidence of major cardiac events.

* The use of aspirin for primary prevention of coronary heart disease is underutilized and needs to be emphasized more in general clinical practice.

* With the use of the Framingham Risk Score, the appropriate use of aspirin can be improved and in turn have a real impact on our patients and health care system.