Women Still Less Likely to Receive Statins, Despite Guidelines
Women are still less likely than men to receive guideline-recommended, high-intensity statin therapy after hospitalization for myocardial infarction (MI), despite recent efforts to reduce such disparities, according to new research.
These findings arose from a study of 16,898 US adults younger than 65 years with commercial health insurance in the MarketScan database, and 71,358 US adults aged 66 years or older with government health insurance through Medicare.
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All participants included in the study filled statin prescriptions within 30 days post-hospitalization for MI between 2014 and 2015.
Women-to-men risk ratios for filling a high-intensity statin prescription—such as 40 to 80 mg atorvastatin and 20 to 40 mg rosuvastatin—after hospitalization for MI were calculated.
Ultimately, results of the study demonstrated that a smaller percentage of women than men filled a high-intensity statin prescription between 2014 and 2015 (47% vs 56%).
Notably, women were found to be less likely than men to fill high-intensity statins within all subgroups that were assessed, with the largest disparity observed in the youngest and oldest adults and in those without prevalent comorbidities.
Adjusted risk ratios for women compared with men were calculated as 0.91 in the total population, 0.91 in those with no prior statin use, 0.87 for low/moderate intensity statin use, and 0.98 for high-intensity statin use.
—Christina Vogt
Reference:
Peters SAE, Colantonio LD, Zhao H, et al. Sex differences in high-intensity statin use following myocardial infarction in the United States. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018;71(16). doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2018.02.032.
SEE ALSO: High-Intensity Statin Use Beneficial for CVD Patients (Podcast)
Dr. Robert Rosenson, professor of medicine and cardiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, discusses his latest research, "Trends in Use of High-Intensity Statin Therapy After Myocardial Infarction, 2011 to 2014,” and the benefits for patients with cardiovascular disease.