Gu A, et al. - The temporal trends and disparities in statin utilization and LDL-C levels were investigated among patients with diabetes aged 40-75 years. Findings revealed that in certain subgroups of patients, statin therapy remained underutilized despite a steady increase in its use during the 16-year study period. Confounding factors linked to healthcare utilization accounted for some of the variations in statin use and LDL-C levels.

Methods

• Researchers included 4,860 patients from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999 to 2014.
• They explored differences in statin use and LDL-C levels by patient characteristics.

Results

• Researchers observed an increase in the prevalence of statin use from 26.2% to 49.5% (P_trend < 0.001) from 1999-2002 to 2011-2014, along with a continuous decrease in the mean LDL-C level (from 115.8 mg/dL to 103.3 mg/dL, P_trend < 0.001).
• They noted that the use of guideline-defined high-potency statin medications (atorvastatin and rosuvastatin) remained largely unchanged (from 14.0% to 17.9%, P_trend=0.55).
• An increase in statin utilization was noted with age.
• Compared with men and whites, women and blacks were 10% and 16% less likely to receive statin treatment, respectively.
• Use of atorvastatin or rosuvastatin was associated with average LDL-C reduction of 8.0 mg/dL in comparison with other statin treatment.
• Women and black patients showed significantly higher LDL-C levels.
• Age and Hispanic-white differences in statin use and LDL-C levels were substantially attenuated after adjustment for potential confounders.