Continuation of statin therapy and a decreased risk of atrial fibrillation/flutter in patients with and without chronic kidney disease
Journal
Atherosclerosis
Journal Volume
232
Journal Issue
1
Pages
224-230
Date Issued
2014
Author(s)
Abstract
Background: To contain cost, Taiwan's previous National Health Insurance Reimbursement Policy requested that physicians discontinue their patients' statin therapy once the serum cholesterol had reached appropriate levels. This allowed us to evaluate the association between statin continuation and the occurrence of atrial fibrillation/flutter and whether it was modified by chronic kidney disease (CKD) status. Methods: Patients who initiated statin therapy between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2009 were identified from a random sample of one million subjects in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The outcome was atrial fibrillation/flutter. A proportional hazard regression model with time-varying statin use was applied to estimate the hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for atrial fibrillation/flutter according to current statin use versus treatment discontinuation, adjusted for baseline disease risk scores and time-varying covariates. Results: A total of 6767 CKD and 63,678 non-CKD patients initiating statin therapy were included and followed for an average of 4.0 years. A total of 1118 participants experienced new-onset atrial fibrillation/flutter. The incidence of atrial fibrillation/flutter was approximately 2 fold higher in the CKD patients. Continuation of statin therapy was associated with a 22% (adjusted hazard ratio 0.78; 95% CI: 0.65-0.93) and 57% (adjusted HR 0.43; 95% CI: 0.27-0.68) decrease in atrial fibrillation/flutter hazard as compared with discontinuation in non-CKD and CKD patients, respectively. Conclusions: Continuation of statin therapy was associated with a decreased risk of atrial fibrillation/flutter among CKD and non-CKD patients. However, further randomized studies are still needed to assess the association. ? 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
SDGs
Other Subjects
hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor; adult; article; cardiovascular risk; chronic kidney disease; coronary artery disease; disease association; drug use; drug withdrawal; female; follow up; heart atrium fibrillation; heart atrium flutter; human; hypertension; incidence; major clinical study; male; middle aged; predictive value; priority journal; risk reduction; tonsillitis; 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors; 95% CIs; 95% confidence interval; anatomical therapeutic chemical; ATC; Atrial fibrillation; CAD; CHF; chronic kidney disease; CKD; Cohort studies; congestive heart failure; coronary artery disease; end-stage renal disease; ESRD; hazard ratio; HMG-CoA; HR; National Health Insurance Research Database; NHIRD; nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; NSAIDs; Renal insufficiency; Statins; Aged; Algorithms; Atrial Fibrillation; Cholesterol; Comorbidity; Confidence Intervals; Female; Humans; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; Incidence; Male; Middle Aged; Proportional Hazards Models; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic; Reproducibility of Results; Risk; Taiwan; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome
Type
journal article