Aspirin has been in the news a lot lately, and it has been very confusing for some patients. Updated guidelines that were released earlier this year state that aspirin should not be used in routine primary prevention for heart attacks due to lack of net benefit.
This caught the attention of the media, yet news stories generally oversimplified the new guidelines – failing to make clear that the recommendation applied only to primary prevention and often downplaying the positives of using aspirin for many who already have heart disease. The consequences of this confusion can be deadly. Nearly 1 in 3 people who have had a heart attack will have another. And for those taking aspirin for secondary prevention, going off their regimen can increase the risk of another heart attack by 63 percent and the risk of another ischemic stroke by 40 percent.
Following the release of the new guidelines, Mended Hearts worked with Womenheart and Bayer Aspirin to develop a survey about the understanding of the recent news. The goal of the survey was to gain an understanding of the current perception and use of aspirin as a secondary prevention tool for heart disease.
Key findings from the survey:
Most respondents feel informed and confident in their understanding of how to prevent another heart attack and the role of aspirin in prevention.
26% of heart attack survivors who had seen recent news about aspirin believed news coverage that said they no longer needed to take aspirin to help prevent another heart attack.
7 out of 10 heart attack survivors had recently seen, heard, or read information about aspirin. Only 6 out of 10 correctly heard the message about who should or should not be taking aspirin for prevention of heart attacks.
14% of those who had heard the news about new guidelines stopped taking aspirin. Most of those people (78%) talked to their health care provider first before making the change.
“Understanding your risk and what you can do to manage it is important for those who have had a heart attack. At Mended Hearts, we understand life after a heart attack is not just a physical journey, but an emotional journey, as well,” said Andrea Baer, MS, BCPA, Executive Director, Mended Hearts and Mended Little Hearts. “In the survey we asked survivors: what are the things that motivate you in wanting to prevent another attack? Not surprisingly their answers were things like wanting to enjoy more time with their spouse and friends or wanting to be there to watch their children and grandchildren grow up.”
To read the full press release and learn more about the survey CLICK HERE
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