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By Amy Orciari Herman
Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and Lorenzo Di Francesco, MD, FACP, FHM
Most statin-eligible patients who go untreated say they've never been offered treatment, according to an industry-supported study in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Researchers studied survey responses from nearly 5700 patients for whom statin therapy would have been recommended under the 2013 ACC/AHA lipid guidelines. About one-fourth were not currently on statins.
Among the findings:
In the primary prevention cohort, the most common reason for nonuse was not being offered a statin. For secondary prevention, discontinuing statins and not being offered treatment were equally responsible for nonuse.
Black race, female sex, and lack of insurance were all independent predictors of never being offered statins.
Of patients who declined statins, about a third said they feared side effects and a quarter said they wanted to focus on lifestyle changes.
Of patients who discontinued statins, over half did so because of perceived side effects.
Of note, many patients who were never offered statins or who discontinued them said they'd be willing to try treatment.
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LINK(S):
JAHA article (Free)
Background: NEJM Journal Watch Cardiology coverage of 2018 lipid guideline update (Your NEJM Journal Watch subscription required)