They conducted a prospective analysis of data from an Australian study (the Blue Mountains Eye Study) that included four examinations during a 15-year period.

Of 2,389 participants, 257 individuals (10.8 percent) were regular aspirin users. After the 15-year follow-up, 63 individuals from the 2,389 participants developed incident neovascular AMD, according to the results.

"The cumulative incidence of neovascular AMD among nonregular aspirin users was 0.8 percent at five years, 1.6 percent at 10 years, and 3.7 percent at 15 years," said the director of WMI's Centre for Vision Research, Professor Paul Mitchell.

"Among regular aspirin users, the cumulative incidence was 1.9 percent at five years, 7 percent at 10 years and 9.3 percent at 15 years, respectively, indicating that regular aspirin use is significantly associated with an increased incidence of neovascular AMD. This increase was around 2.5-fold, after accounting for potentially confounding variables."

The report's authors note that any decision concerning whether to stop aspirin therapy is "complex and needs to be individualised."