Persistence with statins and incident cataract: a population-based historical cohort study
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Gabriel Chodick1, Anthony D Heymann, Shira Flash
1Tel Aviv University, Israel. hodik_g@mac.org.il
Purpose:
In recent years, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that statins may have anti-inflammatory effects; consequently, it was hypothesized that statins may have a preventive effect against cataract.
Methods:
The study was carried out on a retrospective cohort of 180,291 new statin users in a large health organization in Israel. Study participants were followed between 1998 and 2007 for incident cataract or cataract extraction.
Results:
During the study period 27,301 cataracts were diagnosed and 6,976 cataract extractions were performed among study participants. Persistence with statins was associated significantly (P < 0.001) with a reduced risk of cataract in men and women aged 45 to 74. Men aged 45-54 with a high (>80%) proportion of follow-up days covered with statins had an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.62 (95% confidence interval: 0.54-0.72), compared with patients with low persistence with statins. In elderly patients, no relationship or a positive relationship was observed.
Conclusions:
Persistent statin use was significantly protective for the incidence of cataract in men and women under 75 years of age.
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