Regular aspirin use does not reduce risk of incident cognitive decline (P7.117)

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether regular aspirin use protects against incident cognitive decline. BACKGROUND: Regular aspirin use is routinely recommended for protection against cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events. Although cerebrovascular pathology contributes importantly to risk of dementia, it is not well-established whether aspirin ameliorates this risk. DESIGN/METHODS: The Reasons for Geographical and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study is a population-based, biracial, longitudinal cohort study that has enrolled 30,239 participants from the contiguous United States. Cognition was measured by the Six-item Screener (SIS), Word List learning (WLL), Word List Recall (WLR), Animal Fluency Test, and Letter Fluency Test assessed longitudinally from 2 to 6 years. RESULTS: An analytic sample of 23,830 participants was identified after excluding those with baseline cognitive impairment, stroke prior to enrollment, or incomplete data. Multivariable models were used to determine whether regular aspirin was associated with better cognitive outcomes over time. There was no significant association between regular aspirin use and longitudinal changes in cognition on SIS WLL, WLR, and verbal fluency tests. Further adjustment for Framingham Stroke Risk Profile score also failed to find a relationship between aspirin use and change in cognitive function over time. CONCLUSIONS: Regular aspirin did not provide a protective association against incident cognitive impairment in a large, biracial, and geographically diverse cohort. Study Supported by: This research project is supported by a cooperative agreement U01 NS041588 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Service. Disclosure: Dr. Kelley has received personal compensation for activities with Eli Lilly & Co. as a consultant. Dr. McClure has received research support from Genzyme and Amgen. Dr. Unverzagt has received personal compensation for activities with Eli Lilly & Company as a consultant. Dr. Kissela has received personal compensation for activities with Allergan, Inc., AbbVie, and Reata Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Kleindorfer has received personal compensation for activities with Genentech. Dr. Howard has received personal compensation for activities with Bayer Healthcare and Abbott. Dr. Howard has received research support from Amgen and Bayer Healthcare. Dr. Wadley has received personal compensation for activities with Amgen Inc.