There is a scarcity of data on the use of aspirin to help elderly people live longer, healthy lives. It’s unclear whether 5 years of daily low-dose aspirin therapy would extend healthy seniors’ disability-free lives.

The study enrolled community-dwelling people in Australia and the United States who were 70 years old or older (or 65 years old among blacks and Hispanics in the United States) and did not have cardiovascular disease, dementia, or physical impairment between 2010 and 2014. Participants were given either 100 mg of enteric-coated aspirin or a placebo orally every day. A composite of death, dementia, or persistent physical disability was used as the primary end point.

CONCLUSIONS
Over a 5-year period, aspirin use in healthy older people did not prolong disability-free longevity, but it did result in a greater rate of severe hemorrhage than placebo. (ASPREE ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT01038583. Funded by the National Institute on Aging and others.)