Unnecessary aspirin prescribing for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease

Introduction Aspirin is one of the most widely used drugs worldwide, including the UK, where it is estimated that 50% of people aged 75 and use it.1 It is an old drug, with well-established indications, well-known side effects, and is cheap and widely available to the public. This familiarity and cost-effectiveness may be the reason why, beyond the requirements of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) stipulating its use in secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, it does not frequently feature in practice-based medicines audit. For this reason, we have decided to focus on potentially unnecessary prescribing for primary prevention of