High-potency statins but not all statins decrease the risk of new-onset osteoporotic fractures: a nationwide
Tsung-Kun Lin1,2, Yi-Sheng Liou3,4, Ching-Heng Lin5
1Department of Pharmacy, Taoyuan Armed Forces General Hospital, Taoyuan.
Clinical Epidemiology
|February 7, 2018
Summary
Certain statins, like atorvastatin and rosuvastatin, may reduce the risk of new-onset osteoporotic fractures (NOFs). This contrasts with simvastatin, where other statins showed no significant association with NOF risk.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Gerontology
- Orthopedics
Background:
- Statins are widely prescribed for hyperlipidemia.
- Emerging evidence suggests a link between statin use and new-onset osteoporotic fractures (NOFs).
- Different statin medications may differentially impact the risk of developing NOFs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between the use of specific statins and the incidence of NOFs.
- To compare the risk of NOFs among users of various statins.
- To identify if certain statins offer a protective effect against osteoporotic fractures.
Main Methods:
- A longitudinal cohort study utilizing Taiwanese National Health Insurance claim data from 2004-2013.
- Inclusion of patients diagnosed with NOFs and a control group without NOFs.
- Estimation of hazard ratios (HRs) for NOFs associated with different statin prescriptions, with non-users as the reference.
Main Results:
- Among 170,533 hyperlipidemia patients, 44,405 had NOFs.
- Atorvastatin (HR, 0.77) and rosuvastatin (HR, 0.72) users exhibited a significantly lower risk of NOFs compared to simvastatin users.
- Lovastatin, pravastatin, fluvastatin, and pitavastatin showed no significant difference in NOF risk compared to simvastatin.
Conclusions:
- Statin use, particularly atorvastatin and rosuvastatin, is associated with a reduced risk of new-onset osteoporotic fractures.
- The protective effect against NOFs varies among different statin medications.
- High-potency statins demonstrated a dose-response relationship with decreased NOF risk.
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