Trends in statin consumption and cardiovascular mortality in Croatia 2004-2012.

Prescribing of statins showed an increasing trend in all developed countries, during the last two decades. The aim of this study was to research the trends in statin consumption in the period from 2004 to 2012 as well as trends of cardiovascular mortality during the 1990 to 2012 period, and to compare them between Croatia and several neighbouring countries. Data on statin expenditures and consumption expresed in defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day (DDD/TID), were taken from annual reports of Croatian Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices (HALMED). Data on crude mortality rates and standardized cardiovascular mortality rates, were taken from the Croatian Health Statistics Yearbooks. The utilization of statins increased by 196.7% during the observed period, with the highest consumption of atorvastatin and simvastatin. Financial expenditure of statins expanded at much faster rate in comparison with overall drug costs. Cardiovascular mortality rates decreased slightly, while maintaining higher level in comparison with some neighbouring countries.