Prescribing NSAIDs to high-risk groups could cost NHS £31 million over a decade, new study finds

Study finds prescribing NSAIDs to high-risk groups in the UK causes significant harm and costs, emphasizing the need for better interventions.

Prescribing NSAIDs to high-risk groups in England is estimated to cost the NHS £31 million and cause over 6,000 lost years of good health over a 10-year period.
NSAIDs are associated with risks such as gastrointestinal bleeding, heart attacks, stroke, and kidney damage, especially in older adults or those with certain conditions.
Despite efforts to reduce NSAID prescribing, they are still common in high-risk groups due to factors like older age, previous peptic ulcer, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease.
Economic models estimate the harm associated with NSAID prescribing in high-risk groups in terms of quality adjusted life years lost and costs to the NHS.
Shorter durations of exposure to NSAIDs were associated with lower risk of harm, with observations showing that at least half of harms occurred within the first 1.5 years of treatment.

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