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Statin use among older Finns stratified according to cardiovascular risk

  • Pharmacoepidemiology and Prescription
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Abstract

Purpose

Statin use has increased in older age groups, although there is little evidence for the benefits of statin therapy in the elderly, especially in low-risk persons. The aim of this paper is to describe recent trends in the prevalence and incidence of statin use among the Finnish older population, according to the person’s estimated cardiovascular (CV) event risk.

Methods

We conducted a register study covering the whole community-dwelling population of Finland, aged >70 years in 2000–2008 (N = 883,051). Data on reimbursed purchases of statins, antidiabetic and CV drugs, and pre-existing CV diseases were retrieved from comprehensive national registers. We stratified each person into low, moderate or high CV risk category, and according to age (70–74, 75–79, and >80 years) and sex.

Results

Between 2000 and 2008, the age-sex-standardized prevalence of statin use tripled from 12.2 % to 38.7 % (rate ratio 3.0, 95 % CI 3.0–3.1), and the incidence almost doubled (from 3.7 % to 6.8 %; rate ratio 1.8, 95 % CI 1.8–1.9). The prevalence and incidence of statin use were consistently highest among high-risk persons. The greatest relative increases were observed in persons aged >80 years and in those at low risk; however, the proportion of statin users at low CV risk remained the same (∼7 % of all users).

Conclusions

Statin prescribing is shifting towards older age groups. A substantial increase in prevalence and incidence was seen across all risk categories, but the channeling of statin use towards high-risk persons remained unchanged.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by a research grant from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (10/26/2007) and the Turku University Hospital Research Fund (EVO). Eveliina Upmeier was also supported by the research fund of Turku City Hospital (EVO).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maarit Jaana Korhonen.

Additional information

NOTE: Part of the results has been previously published in Finnish in the Finnish Medical Journal [36].

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Online Resource 1

Table 1. Annual prevalence (%) of statin use among older Finns by sex, cardiovascular risk category, and age, 2000─2008 (PDF 250 kb)

Online Resource 2

Table 2. Annual incidence (%) of statin use among older Finns by sex, cardiovascular risk category, and age, 2000─2008 (PDF 252 kb)

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Upmeier, E., Korhonen, M.J., Helin-Salmivaara, A. et al. Statin use among older Finns stratified according to cardiovascular risk. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 69, 261–267 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-012-1328-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-012-1328-0

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