ASPREE in 2013 – what a year!!

Feb 2, 2014

A run-down of an amazing year for the ASPREE Clinical Trial

In 2013, we reached a number of significant milestones that could not have been reached without the generosity of older Australians, supporting GPs and practice staff and our hard-working team. Congratulations to all.

In 2013 the ASPREE Trial:

Reached and exceeded the original recruitment target of 12,500 Australian ASPREE participants in September. Due to the success of the trial, the new Australian recruitment target was set to 16,500 participants

Had enrolled over 2,000 Australian GPs as associate investigators to the trial

Phone screened for eligibility the 60,000th person to respond to their letter of invitation

Had posted almost half a million letters to ASPREE participants and potential participants

Made the 100,000th follow-up call to an ASPREE participant

Collected biosamples, ie blood samples from the 9,000th participant to enrol in the ASPREE Healthy Ageing Biobank, an ASPREE sub-study.

Processed the 21,000th ALSOP (ASPREE Longitudinal Study of Older Persons) questionnaire returned by almost 90% of ASPREE participants to help identify factors that influence healthy ageing

Enrolled the 1000th participant in the ASPREE-SNORE sub-study investigating whether sleep apnoea affects thinking and memory and if aspirin can slow associated changes in small blood vessels in the brain

Enrolled over 70 participants per month to undergo retinal photography as part of the ASPREE-AMD study, which is examining the effect of aspirin on age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

Travelled more than 150,000 km in the ASPREE Biobuses, enabling older people in regional and rural areas to participate in clinical research

Commissioned two ASPREE RetCam Vans, vehicles specially fitted with a retinal camera for the ASPREE-AMD sub-study

Initiated new sub-studies to determine the effect of aspirin on specific conditions: ASPREE-KNEE (aspirin and osteoarthritis), ASPREE-NEURO (aspirin and microvascular changes in the brain), ACES (ASPREE Cancer Endpoints Study – aspirin and cancer) and ASPREE-Antisepsis (aspirin and infection)

Commenced recruitment in Mildura, the Sapphire Coast and in Wollongong

Presented to 80 community organisations and conducted several study updates, reaching over 5,700 participants, friends, families and interested older people

Was awarded $2.9 million from the National Cancer Institute (US) to collect a 3 year follow up sample of blood from participants in the ASPREE Healthy Ageing Biobank