Risk for Serious Gastrointestinal Complications Related to Use of Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs

Users of NSAIDs are at approximately three times greater relative risk for developing serious adverse gastrointestinal events than are nonusers. Additional risk factors include age greater than 60 years, previous history of gastrointestinal events, and concomitant corticosteroid use. Another possible risk factor is the first 3 months of NSAID therapy. The risk for serious gastrointestinal events appears to be equal among men and women. These data represent summary statistics from 16 studies and cannot be considered generalizable to all NSAID users.