Statin use is not associated with clinically important noncardiovascular benefits or harms

Reference

He Y, Li X, Gasevic D, et al. Statins and multiple noncardiovascular outcomes. Umbrella review of meta-analyses of observational studies and randomized controlled trials. Ann Intern Med 2018;169(8):543-553.

Synopsis

To conduct this review, researchers searched 2 databases, Google Scholar, and bibliographies for English-language meta-analyses of observational and randomized trials that reported on non-CVD effects of statins. They identified 112 meta-analyses of observational studies and 144 meta-analyses of randomized studies that reported a total of 278 non-CVD outcomes. Three investigators selected studies for inclusion. One researcher extracted the data, which were checked by a second researcher. Using criteria characterized by the size of the P value and the number of patients, they found the highly suggestive results that statin use is associated with decreased cancer mortality in patients with cancer, decreased exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and decreased all-cause mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease. Observational studies also found suggestive evidence of an increase in diabetes and myopathy associated with statin use. Overall, though, as is often the case with observational studies, larger studies tended not to replicate findings of harm or benefit found in smaller studies, and even the statistically significant differences are clinically small.