title: AspiriN To Inhibit SEPSIS (ANTISEPSIS) randomised controlled trial protocol.
abstract: Sepsis is a leading global cause of morbidity and mortality, and is more common at the extremes of age. Moreover, the cost of in-hospital care for elderly patients with sepsis is significant. There are indications from experimental and observational studies that aspirin may reduce inflammation associated with infection. This paper describes the rationale and design of the AspiriN To Inhibit SEPSIS (ANTISEPSIS) trial, a substudy of ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE). ANTISEPSIS primarily aims to determine whether low-dose aspirin reduces sepsis-related deaths in older people. Additionally, it will assess whether low-dose aspirin reduces sepsis-related hospitalisations and sepsis-related Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions.
  
  
  
  ASPREE is a double-blinded, randomised, placebo-controlled primary prevention trial that will determine whether daily low-dose aspirin extends disability-free longevity in 19 000 healthy older people recruited in Australia and the USA. The ANTISEPSIS substudy involves additional ASPREE trial data collection to assess the impact of daily low-dose aspirin on sepsis-related events in the 16 703 ASPREE participants aged 70 years and over, recruited in Australia. The intervention is a daily 100 mg dose of enteric-coated aspirin versus matching placebo, with 1:1 randomisation. The primary outcome for the ANTISEPSIS substudy is the incidence of sepsis-related death in eligible patients. The incidence of sepsis-related hospital and ICU admissions are secondary outcomes. ANTISEPSIS is to be conducted between 2012 and 2018.
  
  
  
  This substudy will determine whether aspirin, an inexpensive and accessible therapy, safely reduces sepsis-related deaths and hospitalisations in older Australians. If shown to be the case, this would have profound effects on the health of older Australians.
  
  
  
  Pre-results, ACTRN12613000349741.
authors.affiliation: Townsville Hospital and Health Service, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.|Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.|Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Damon P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Eisen
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Elizabeth M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Victorian Infectious Diseases Service at the Peter Doherty Institute, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Leder
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lockery
authors.affiliation: Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Emma S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: McBryde
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: McNeil
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Department of Intensive Care, The Alfred Hospital,  Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) Centre for Outcome and Resource Evaluation (CORE), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pilcher
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Rory
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wolfe
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Robyn L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Woods
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000985:Antisepsis; D001241:Aspirin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D012107:Research Design; D018805:Sepsis / Q000401:mortality*
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D001241:Aspirin