Aspirin Regimen Has No Benefit for Cognitive Decline

HealthDay News — Low-dose aspirin does not protect against cognitive decline, according to a review published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Nicola Veronese, MD, from the Italian Research Council in Padova, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to identify observational and interventional studies that investigated low-dose aspirin and the incidence of dementia and cognitive impairment.

The researchers identified 8 studies (36,196 participants). Over a median of 6 years of follow-up, chronic use of low-dose aspirin was not associated with onset of dementia or cognitive impairment (5 studies; 26,159 participants; odds ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.55-1.22; P =.33), after adjusting for a median of 3 potential confounders. In 3 randomized controlled trials (10,037 participants; median follow-up, 5 years), the use of low-dose aspirin in individuals without dementia was not associated with significantly better global cognition (standardized mean difference, 0.005; 95% CI, −0.04-0.05; P =.84).

“This review found no evidence that low-dose aspirin buffers against cognitive decline or dementia or improves cognitive test scores in randomized controlled trials,” the authors write.

Reference

Veronese N, Stubbs B, Maggi S, et al. Low-dose aspirin use and cognitive function in older age: a systematic review and meta-analysis [published online April 20, 2017]. J Am Geriatr Soc. doi:10.1111/jgs.14883