title: Aspirin usage in a large teaching hospital diabetes clinic setting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To document aspirin usage and the prevalence of large and small vessel complications in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) attending the outpatient diabetes clinics of a large public hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients attending diabetes outpatient clinics at The Royal Melbourne Hospital in Melbourne, Australia were surveyed over a 3-month period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Complete data were available on 629 of 632 (296 male) patients surveyed. Of the 29.3% of patients who were suffering from one or more macrovascular complication (ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease or peripheral vascular disease), 63% were currently on aspirin treatment. Of those not on aspirin, 65% had no contra-indication to aspirin treatment and a further 19% had only a relative contra-indication of either aspirin or warfarin treatment recorded.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The published recommendations for the use of aspirin in patients with macrovascular disease were generally being followed in this clinic-based population. However, a significant proportion of patients without a contra-indication to treatment were still not receiving aspirin. The lack of clear evidence-based guidelines for aspirin use may be a factor in its under-prescription. This survey suggests clear evidence-based guidelines should be established and disseminated.
authors.affiliation: University of Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Plehwe
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Colman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001241:Aspirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004282:Documentation; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; D001241:Aspirin