Background
Statins are widely used to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD). With advancing age, the risks of statins might outweigh the potential benefits. It is unclear which factors influence ...general practitioners’ (GPs) advice to stop statins in oldest-old patients.
Objective
To investigate the influence of a
history of CVD
,
statin-related side effects, frailty
and
short life expectancy
, on GPs’ advice to stop statins in oldest-old patients.
Design
We invited GPs to participate in this case-based survey. GPs were presented with 8 case vignettes describing patients > 80 years using a statin, and asked whether they would advise stopping statin treatment.
Main Measures
Cases varied in history of CVD, statin-related side effects and frailty, with and without shortened life expectancy (< 1 year) in the context of metastatic, non-curable cancer. Odds ratios adjusted for GP characteristics (OR
adj
) were calculated for GPs’ advice to stop.
Key Results
Two thousand two hundred fifty GPs from 30 countries participated (median response rate 36%). Overall, GPs advised stopping statin treatment in 46% (95%CI 45–47) of the case vignettes; with shortened life expectancy, this proportion increased to 90% (95CI% 89–90). Advice to stop was more frequent in case vignettes without CVD compared to those with CVD (OR
adj
13.8, 95%CI 12.6–15.1), with side effects compared to without OR
adj
1.62 (95%CI 1.5–1.7) and with frailty (OR
adj
4.1, 95%CI 3.8–4.4) compared to without. Shortened life expectancy increased advice to stop (OR
adj
50.7, 95%CI 45.5–56.4) and was the strongest predictor for GP advice to stop, ranging across countries from 30% (95%CI 19–42) to 98% (95% CI 96–99).
Conclusions
The absence of CVD, the presence of statin-related side effects, and frailty were all independently associated with GPs’ advice to stop statins in patients aged > 80 years. Overall, and within all countries, cancer-related short life expectancy was the strongest independent predictor of GPs’ advice to stop statins.
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