VIDEO: Updated USPSTF statin guidelines can help PCPs prevent CVD

In August, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released a new recommendation statement on the use of statin therapy for primary prevention of CVD.

Like its 2016 guidelines, the USPSTF recommended statins as primary prevention for adults aged 40 to 75 years with at least one CVD risk factor and a 10% or greater 10-year risk for CVD.

Speaking to Healio, John B. Wong, MD, USPSTF member, vice chair for Academic Affairs, chief of the division of clinical decision making and professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, discussed how statins are “an important tool for the prevention of that first stroke and first heart attack for some patients.”

“Whether someone takes a statin depends largely on three factors. The first is age, the second is risk factor, and the last is their chances of having a first stroke or first heart attack as part of primary prevention,” he said.

Wong also emphasized the role primary care physicians possess in successfully preventing and treating CVD.

“We as primary care physicians can help lower the risk by encouraging them to quit smoking, by encouraging them to be more physically active, and by encouraging them to eat a healthier diet,” he said.

References:

• Chou R, et al. JAMA. 2022;doi:10.1001/jama.2022.12318.
• Prevention TaskForce. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/apps/. Accessed Oct. 10, 2022.