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Updated: Aug 13, 2026
04:30
A Murine Model of Stent Implantation in the Carotid Artery for the Study of Restenosis
Published on: May 14, 2013
Statin wars following coronary revascularization--evidence-based clinical practice?
1Division of Cardiology, Royal Victoria Hospital/McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec. james.brophy@mcgill.ca
The Canadian Journal of Cardiology
|February 2, 2006
Summary
Physician statin choices for heart patients aren't solely based on high-quality randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Other factors likely influence prescribing patterns, warranting further investigation into these determinants.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Pharmacology
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) demonstrate significant health benefits of statins.
- Pharmaceutical companies invest heavily in clinical trials and marketing for statins.
- The impact of RCT evidence on physician statin prescribing is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between physician statin prescription patterns and the evidential quality from RCTs.
- To analyze statin choice in elderly patients post-coronary revascularization.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Quebec Health Insurance Board administrative databases for patient data (n=27,979).
- Examined statin prescriptions for elderly patients (age > 65) after coronary revascularization (1994-2003).
- Compared statin prescriptions against RCT evidence base for mortality outcomes published by December 2002.
Main Results:
- Atorvastatin's market share increased from its introduction in 1996 to 44% by 2003.
- Simvastatin and pravastatin market shares decreased correspondingly.
- Despite extensive follow-up data for simvastatin and pravastatin in RCTs, atorvastatin had significantly less patient-years of follow-up by 2002.
Conclusions:
- Statin prescription patterns are not solely dictated by high-quality RCT evidence.
- Additional research is needed to identify other factors influencing physician prescribing behavior for statins.
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