Negative statin-related news stories decrease statin persistence and increase myocardial infarction and cardiovascular mortality: a nationwide prospective cohort study

Aim We tested the hypothesis that statin-related news stories, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, statin dose, calendar year, and socio-demographic status are associated with early statin discontinuation. We also examined frequency and consequences of early statin discontinuation. Methods and results From the entire Danish population, we studied 674 900 individuals aged 40 or older who were initiated on statin therapy in 1995-2010, and followed them until 31 December 2011. Individuals on statins increased from <1% in 1995 to 11% in 2010, while early statin discontinuation increased from 6% in 1995 to 18% in 2010. The odds ratios for early statin discontinuation vs. continued use were 1.09 (95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.12) for negative statin-related news stories, 1.04 (1.02-1.07) per increasing calendar year, 1.04 (1.02-1.06) per increasing defined daily dose of statin, 1.05 (1.03-1.06) for male sex, 1.13 (1.11-1.15) for living in cities, 1.67 (1.63-1.71) for other ethnicity than Danish, 0.92 (0.90-0.94) for positive statin-related news stories, 0.73 (0.72-0.74) for baseline cardiovascular disease, and 0.91 (0.90-0.93) for baseline diabetes. During follow-up, the hazard ratios for individuals with vs. without early statin discontinuation were 1.26 (1.21-1.30) for myocardial infarction and 1.18 (1.14-1.23) for death from cardiovascular disease. Conclusion Early statin discontinuation increased with negative statin-related news stories, calendar year, statin dose, male sex, living in cities, and with other ethnicity than Danish, while the opposite was true for positive statin-related news stories and for baseline cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Early statin discontinuation was also associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction and death from cardiovascular disease.