Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Feb 11;16(2):e0246825.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246825. eCollection 2021.

Association of mortality and aspirin prescription for COVID-19 patients at the Veterans Health Administration

Thomas F Osborne  1   2 , Zachary P Veigulis  3 , David M Arreola  1 , Satish M Mahajan  1 , Eliane Röösli  4 , Catherine M Curtin  1   5
Affiliations

Association of mortality and aspirin prescription for COVID-19 patients at the Veterans Health Administration

Thomas F Osborne et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

There is growing evidence that thrombotic and inflammatory pathways contribute to the severity of COVID-19. Common medications such as aspirin, that mitigate these pathways, may decrease COVID-19 mortality. This retrospective assessment was designed to quantify the correlation between pre-diagnosis aspirin and mortality for COVID-19 positive patients in our care. Data from the Veterans Health Administration national electronic health record database was utilized for the evaluation. Veterans from across the country with a first positive COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction lab result were included in the evaluation which comprised 35,370 patients from March 2, 2020 to September 13, 2020 for the 14-day mortality cohort and 32,836 patients from March 2, 2020 to August 28, 2020 for the 30-day mortality cohort. Patients were matched via propensity scores and the odds of mortality were then compared. Among COVID-19 positive Veterans, preexisting aspirin prescription was associated with a statistically and clinically significant decrease in overall mortality at 14-days (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.32-0.46) and at 30-days (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.33-0.45), cutting the odds of mortality by more than half. Findings demonstrated that pre-diagnosis aspirin prescription was strongly associated with decreased mortality rates for Veterans diagnosed with COVID-19. Prospective evaluation is required to more completely assess this correlation and its implications for patient care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Cohorts for the 14-day and 30-day mortality evaluation of Veterans diagnosed with COVID-19.
ASA = Aspirin.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Scatter plots with fitted lines of the association between the propensity score and the matched covariates (age, gender and CAN 1-year mortality score).
30-day mortality assessment cohort (A) and the 14-day mortality assessment cohort (B).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kizer KW, Demakis JG, Feussner JR. Reinventing VA health care: systematizing quality improvement and quality innovation. Medical care. 2000. 2000:I7–I16. - PubMed
    1. Wang JZ, Cidade M, Larsen M, Pearman G, Schimpf M, Dhanireddy P, Main results report, prepared for Strategic Analysis Service (SAS) Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis (OSPA) Veterans Health Administration. 2019. Survey of Veteran Enrollees’ Health and Use of Health Care.
    1. About VHA. Washington, DC: Veterans Health Administration, July 2019. (https://www.va.gov/health/aboutvha.asp). Accessed May 1, 2020
    1. Yan Y, Yang Y, Wang F, Ren H, Zhang S, Shi X, et al. Clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with severe covid-19 with diabetes. BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care. 2020;8:e001343 10.1136/bmjdrc-2020-001343 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arentz M, Yim E, Klaff L, Lokhandwala S, Riedo FX, Chong M, et al. Characteristics and outcomes of 21 critically ill patients with COVID-19 in Washington State. Jama. 2020. April 28;323(16):1612–4. 10.1001/jama.2020.4326 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Substances