Comparison of Two Guidelines on Statins for Primary Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

Two U.S. guidelines — one from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF; NEJM JW Gen Med Dec 15 2016 and JAMA 2016; 316:1997) and the other from the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA; NEJM JW Gen Med Dec 15 2103 and J Am Coll Cardiol 2014; 63:2889) — differ in their recommendations on eligibility for statins to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD). To illustrate these differences, researchers applied both guidelines to 3416 adults (median age, 53) without CVD in a U.S. national health database; 22% already were taking lipid-lowering medications.

Applying the USPSTF recommendations would have resulted in an additional 16% of patients receiving statins, whereas applying the ACC/AHA guideline would have r…