Statin use is associated with lower mortality risk in older adults, according to a retrospective study in JAMA.
In aretrospective cohort study that used propensity score overlap weighting and included 326 981 participants, statin use, compared with no statin use, was significantly associated with a lower risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality (hazard ratios, 0.75 and 0.80, respectively). At the outset, all participants free of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Death rates per 1000 person-years were 79 among new statin users and 98 among non-users. After adjustment for propensity scores, the hazard ratio for statin users was 0.75 for all-cause mortality and 0.80 for cardiovascular mortality, compared with non-users.
Editorialists write that the results “provide a compelling argument for use of statins for primary prevention in older patients.”
Source: NEJM Journal Watch and JAMA
Read the full article here.
