OBJECTIVES

As life expectancy continues to rise, the burden of cardiovascular disease among older people is expected to increase, making cardiovascular prevention in older people an issue of growing interest and public health importance. We aimed to explore the long-term effects of adherence to statins on mortality and cardiovascular morbidity among older adults.

DESIGN

A historical population-based cohort study using routinely collected data.

SETTING

Clalit Health Services Northern District.

PARTICIPANTS

We followed members of Clalit Health Services aged 65 years or older who were eligible for primary cardiovascular prevention for a period of 10 years.

MEASUREMENTS

We fitted Cox regression models to assess the association between the adherence to statin therapy and all-cause mortality and cardiovascular morbidity, adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors and associated morbidity as time-updated variables.

RESULTS

The analysis included 19 518 older adults followed during 10 years (median = 9.7 y). All-cause mortality rates were 34% lower among those who had adhered to statin treatment, compared with those who had not (hazard ratio [HR] = .66; 95% confidence interval [CI] = .56-.79). Adherence to statins was also associated with fewer atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease events (HR = .80; 95% CI = .71-.81). The benefit of statin use did not diminish among beyond age 75 and was evident for both women and men.

CONCLUSION

Adherence to statins may be associated with reduced mortality and cardiovascular morbidity among older adults, regardless of age and sex. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:2038-2044, 2019.