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Statin discontinuation raises CV event risk by one-third in elderly
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In patients aged 75 years of age or older taking statins for primary CVD prevention, discontinuing statin therapy was associated with a 33% increased risk for hospital admission for a CV event, researchers reported.
“To patients, we would say that if you are regularly taking statins for high cholesterol, we would recommend you don't stop the treatment when you are 75,” Philippe Giral, MD, PhD, endocrinologist specialist in prevention of cardiovascular disease at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, said in a press release. “To doctors, we would recommend not stopping statin treatment given for primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases in your patients aged 75.”
Giral and colleagues analyzed 120,173 patients from French national health care databases taking statin therapy for primary prevention who turned age 75 in 2012 to 2014. They compared patients who discontinued statins, defined as 3 consecutive months without statin exposure, with those who continued taking them.
The primary outcome was hospital admission for a CV event.
During the study period of a mean of 2.4 years, 14.3% of patients discontinued statins and 4.5% were admitted for a CV event, according to the researchers.
Compared with those who stayed on statins, those who discontinued them were 33% more likely to be admitted for a CV event (adjusted HR = 1.33; 95% CI, 1.18-1.5), 46% more likely to be admitted for a coronary event (aHR = 1.46; 95% CI, 1.21-1.75) and 26% more likely to be admitted for a cerebrovascular event (aHR = 1.26; 95% CI, 1.05-1.51), Giral and colleagues wrote.
There was no difference between the groups in hospital admission for other vascular events (aHR = 1.02; 95% CI, 0.74-1.4).
"We estimated that an extra 2.5 cardiovascular events per 100 people would occur within 4 years among those who discontinued their statins at the age of 75 years compared to those who continued taking their statins,” Giral said in the release.
Researcher Joël Coste, MD, PhD, epidemiologist at Cochin Hospital in Paris, said in the release that, “While we wait for results from randomized controlled trials, carefully conducted observational studies such as this can provide useful information for doctors and patients, and can contribute to establishing more precise guidelines on the use of statins for primary prevention in the elderly." – by Erik Swain
Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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