Association of Early Aspirin Use With In-Hospital Mortality in Patients With Moderate COVID-19

Abstract

Importance: Prior observational studies suggest that aspirin use may be associated with reduced mortality in high-risk hospitalized patients with COVID-19, but aspirin's efficacy in patients with moderate COVID-19 is not well studied.

Objective: To assess whether early aspirin use is associated with lower odds of in-hospital mortality in patients with moderate COVID-19.

Design, setting, and participants: Observational cohort study of 112 269 hospitalized patients with moderate COVID-19, enrolled from January 1, 2020, through September 10, 2021, at 64 health systems in the United States participating in the National Institute of Health's National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C).

Exposure: Aspirin use within the first day of hospitalization.

Main outcome and measures: The primary outcome was 28-day in-hospital mortality, and secondary outcomes were pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis. Odds of in-hospital mortality were calculated using marginal structural Cox and logistic regression models. Inverse probability of treatment weighting was used to reduce bias from confounding and balance characteristics between groups.

Results: Among the 2 446 650 COVID-19-positive patients who were screened, 189 287 were hospitalized and 112 269 met study inclusion. For the full cohort, Median age was 63 years (IQR, 47-74 years); 16.1% of patients were African American, 3.8% were Asian, 52.7% were White, 5.0% were of other races and ethnicities, 22.4% were of unknown race and ethnicity. In-hospital mortality occurred in 10.9% of patients. After inverse probability treatment weighting, 28-day in-hospital mortality was significantly lower in those who received aspirin (10.2% vs 11.8%; odds ratio [OR], 0.85; 95% CI, 0.79-0.92; P < .001). The rate of pulmonary embolism, but not deep vein thrombosis, was also significantly lower in patients who received aspirin (1.0% vs 1.4%; OR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.56-0.90; P = .004). Patients who received early aspirin did not have higher rates of gastrointestinal hemorrhage (0.8% aspirin vs 0.7% no aspirin; OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.82-1.33; P = .72), cerebral hemorrhage (0.6% aspirin vs 0.4% no aspirin; OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 0.92-1.88; P = .13), or blood transfusion (2.7% aspirin vs 2.3% no aspirin; OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.99-1.32; P = .06). The composite of hemorrhagic complications did not occur more often in those receiving aspirin (3.7% aspirin vs 3.2% no aspirin; OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.00-1.28; P = .054). Subgroups who appeared to benefit the most included patients older than 60 years (61-80 years: OR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.72-0.87; P < .001; >80 years: OR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.69-0.91; P < .001) and patients with comorbidities (1 comorbidity: 6.4% vs 9.2%; OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.55-0.83; P < .001; 2 comorbidities: 10.5% vs 12.8%; OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.69-0.93; P = .003; 3 comorbidities: 13.8% vs 17.0%, OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.68-0.89; P < .001; >3 comorbidities: 17.0% vs 21.6%; OR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.66-0.84; P < .001).

Conclusions and relevance: In this cohort study of US adults hospitalized with moderate COVID-19, early aspirin use was associated with lower odds of 28-day in-hospital mortality. A randomized clinical trial that includes diverse patients with moderate COVID-19 is warranted to adequately evaluate aspirin's efficacy in patients with high-risk conditions.

Figure 1.. Flow Diagram Depicting the Phases of Enrollment, Exclusion, and Data Analysis

Ag indicates antigen; N3C, National COVID Cohort Collaborative; and PCR, polymerase chain reaction.

Figure 2.. In-Hospital Survival at 28 Days

Survival function in patients receiving aspirin and not receiving aspirin. Patients discharged within the study period are right-censored. In patients with moderate disease on hospital admission, aspirin use was associated with increased survival (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.74-0.86; P < .001). ^aAll values were generated after inverse probability of treatment weighting was performed and are therefore weighted.

Figure 3.. Subgroup Analyses Examining 28-Day In-Hospital Mortality After Early Aspirin Administration

Shown are the prespecified subgroup analyses by age and number of comorbidities. The number of events, total number of patients, and event rate for each group are shown after inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW). The odds ratio (OR) for all participants is plotted as a diamond, the ORs for each subgroup are plotted as squares, and the size of the squares is proportional to the standard error of the estimated effect size. The 95% CIs are plotted as horizontal lines. The right arrow indicates a CI that exceeds the limit of the x-axis. For the categories of age and number of comorbidities, an interaction term between the treatment and the category of interest was created. For age, this corresponds to a test of 60 years or younger vs older than 60 years (P = .001). For number of comorbidities, this corresponds to a test of 0 comorbidities vs at least 1 comorbidity (P < .001). As an additional sensitivity analysis, subgroup balancing was performed whereby IPTW was reperformed for every level within a subgroup (ie, aged 18-40, 41-60, 61-80 years, and >80 years) to ensure adequate covariate balance within subgroups. P values correspond to the significance of the OR difference from 1.