ASPECT
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Aspirin after hospitalisation with Pneumonia to prevent cardiovascular Events randomised Controlled Trial (ASPECT)
IRAS ID
1005090
Contact name
Nick Maskell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
North Bristol NHS Trust
Eudract number
2022-001856-40
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN85630652
Research summary
Pneumonia is an inflammation of one or both lungs, usually caused by infection. Pneumonia is very common with 270,000 patients admitted as an emergency to hospital in England every year. Around 1 in 20 patients (5%) who are admitted to hospital with pneumonia have a heart attack or stroke within three months.
Aspirin has been used for decades to reduce the chance of having a heart attack or stroke in other patient groups. Although aspirin has limited side effects in the vast majority of people, it carries a very small risk of significant bleeding, therefore it is not clear whether or not giving aspirin to everyone with pneumonia will be beneficial overall.
The ASPECT trial aims to test whether aspirin reduces the risk of a heart attack or stroke in patients who are admitted to hospital with pneumonia. This study needs to recruit 22,600 patients over 4-years to answer this question.
Adults aged 50 years and over admitted to hospital with pneumonia will be invited to take part. Those who agree will be split into two groups. One group will be asked to take a course of low dose aspirin each day for 3 months. The other group will not.
The pilot phase of the study will consist of the first 2,000 participants, who will be followed up at 3 months after randomisation with a questionnaire to assess serious adverse events and compliance with the medication. After the pilot phase we will follow up all participants at 3 months by reviewing the ‘usual care’ health records of participants held by National Health Service (NHS) hospitals. We will assess their recovery, specifically whether they have a heart attack or stroke, or any serious side effects of aspirin.REC name
Wales REC 1
REC reference
22/WA/0271
Date of REC Opinion
3 Nov 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion