Risk for Muscle Pain or Weakness with Statins Is Slight

Studies with a range of methodologies, and of varying quality, suggest a small excess risk for muscle pain or weakness with statin therapy, separate from the very rare known risk of rhabdomyolysis. Investigators explored this relationship in a meta-analysis of individual participant data for ≈155,000 people from all randomized, controlled trials that compared statins with placebo (19 studies) or high-dose statin regimens with low-dose regimens (4 studies) and that provided follow-up data of at least 2 years.

Among participants taking a statin, 27.1% reported muscle symptoms, compared with 26.6% in the placebo groups, for a 3% relative increase over a median 4 years; the difference was barely statistically significant, and all excess risk occ…