Daily low-dose aspirin does not protect against fractures and falls in the elderly, according to an Australian study of primary care patients. 

Compared with placebo, older adults taking 100mg aspirin once daily had a 17% higher risk of serious falls requiring hospitalisation, reported Monash University-led researchers. 

Findings from the sub-study of the ASPREE (Aspirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) trial challenged previous research showing a benefit in this setting, including a recent meta-analysis that suggested low-dose aspirin cut the risk of fragility fractures by 17%. 

“The lack of an effect of low-dose aspirin on the risk of fractures while increasing the risk of serious falls adds to the body of evidence that this agent provides little favourable benefit in a healthy white older adult population,” the authors concluded in JAMA Internal Medicine.