Media controversy over the benefits of statins often leads to patients discontinuing treatment, according to a European study published today.
The research covering nearly 700,000 people shows a link between negative news stories about statins and increased rates of patients discontinuing statin treatment.
Patients who start on statins may experience a range of side-effects, leading potentially to early discontinuation of therapy, the researchers say.
"Exposure to negative and positive statin-related news stories during this early phase may play a role for the patient in the decision to continue or discontinue statin therapy beyond the first dispense," according to Professor Borge Nordestgaard of Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues.
Writing today (2 December) in the European Heart Journal, they add that: "This may especially be true for the patient without a history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes, and who previously considered him- or herself to be in good cardiovascular health."
So the team investigated the possible links between statin-related news stories, co-existing cardiovascular disease, and early statin discontinuation, using details of the entire Danish population.
This covered 674,900 individuals aged 40 or older who began statin therapy in 1995-2010. Participants were followed the end of 2011.
Results showed that early statin discontinuation rose from 6% in 1995 to 18% in 2010. Discontinuation rose by 9% after negative statin-related news stories, and rose by 4% per year during the study period.
Other factors linked to early statin discontinuation were an increased daily dose, male sex, living in a city, and being an ethnicity other than Danish.
Positive statin-related news stories were linked to an 8% drop in early discontinuation, as were cardiovascular disease and diabetes at the time of statin prescription.
Professor Nordestgaard says that early discontinuation of statins following exposure to negative news stories about statins "explained 2% of all heart attacks and 1% of all deaths from cardiovascular disease associated with early discontinuation of statins."
Fallgaard Nielsen, S. et al. Negative statin-related news stories decrease statin persistence and increase myocardial infarction and cardiovascular mortality: a nationwide prospective cohort study. European Heart Journal 2 December 2015 ; doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehv641
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