Role of Traditional Cardiovascular Risk Factors after Initiation of Statin Therapy: A PharmLines Inception Cohort Study

Abstract

Background. Multiple studies and meta-analyses examined the role of traditional risk factors for cardiovascular events in statin treatment-naive patients. Nowadays, millions receive such therapy for the primary prevention of cardiovascular events (CVE). Objective. CVEs still occur in patients on primary preventive statin therapy. Therefore, further risk stratification within these patients is urgently needed. Methods. Using the unique linkage between biomedical data and prescription data from the PharmLines Initiative, we assessed the role of several risk factors used in cardiovascular risk models, using a time-dependent Cox PH model, in the occurrence of drug treatment of CVEs after initiation of statin therapy. Results. Among 602 statin therapy starters, 11% received drug treatment for CVE within an average follow-up period of 832 days. After multivariable modelling, cholesterol levels and blood pressure at baseline were no longer associated, whereas self-reported diabetes and increasing age were highly associated with the outcome when on statin therapy (hazard ratio (HR): 3.01, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.48-6.12 and 1.04; 95% CI: 1.01-1.07, respectively). Males, smokers, and nonadherent patients had increased risks (HR 1.6, 1.12, and 1.18, resp.), though not statistically significant. Conclusion. Drug treatment for CVEs after statin initiation is increased in patients with diabetes type 2, in aged patients, males, smokers, and those with poor adherence, while there was no association with baseline cholesterol levels and blood pressure. These factors should be taken into account during the monitoring of statin therapy and may lead to changes in statin treatment or risk-related lifestyle factors.

The Association between Deductibles and Cardiovascular Medication Adherence: A Retrospective Inception Cohort Study

“…The decreasing adherence of lipid lowering medication coincides with multiple studies on statin adherence [ 45 – 49 ]. Note that the rate of decrease is fairly similar to two studies conducted in the Netherlands despite using a (slightly) different population [ 46 , 48 ]. The view on decreasing adherence over time of antihypertensive medication is also in agreement with several studies on adherence of antihypertensive medication, although not all studies are conducted in a population of primary preventive patients [ 49 – 51 ].…”

Risk factors for drug-treated major adverse cardio-cerebrovascular events in patients on primary preventive statin therapy: A retrospective cohort study

“…In an exploratory study from our group using a small sample of patients (N = 602), we showed that modifiable risk factors of cardiovascular events at initiation of statin therapy such as LDL-C levels and blood pressure, did no longer play a role in the risk of cardiovascular events, if patients were persistent with this therapy ( Steenhuis et al, 2022 ). This was in line with earlier research done by Corrao et al, 2010 , Rannanheimo et al, 2015 , who estimated the effect of statin adherence on cardiovascular events in patients on primary preventive statin therapy, adjusted for time-independent risk factors as age, sex, drug dose and diabetes at baseline.…”