Lipid-lowering drugs associated with slower motor decline in the elderly adults

Vascular risk factors contribute to motor decline in the elderly persons. We investigated the relationship between lipid-lowering drugs (LLDs) use and decline in walking speed (WS) in older adults.

Data on 4,009 community-dwelling men and women, aged ≥65 years at baseline, are drawn from the Dijon (France) center of the Three-City study. "Fast" WS was assessed over 6 m at baseline and at 4, 6, 8, and 10 years of follow-up. Mixed linear models were used to determine the relationship between LLDs and change in WS over the follow-up.

At baseline, 1,295 (32%) participants used LLDs (statins, n = 643; fibrates, n = 652); mean fast WS was 152.9cm/s and not significantly different between LLDs users and nonusers. In models adjusted for age, sex, cholesterol level, and other covariates, WS decline was 25% slower in LLDs users (difference with nonusers: 0.58cm/s/y, 95% CI: 0.30, 0.86; p < .001). Both fibrates and statins were associated with slower decline, but only the effect of statins was robust in analyses that took missing values into account. The beneficial effect was more pronounced in those on LLDs continuously over the follow-up.

Fast WS declined less in those on LLDs, suggesting that the effect of LLDs, statins in particular, extend beyond that on cardiovascular disease in the elderly persons. However, these effects were modest and their clinical relevance is unclear.