Discontinuation of statins among patients with type 2 diabetes Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews, 05/04/2012

Lamberts EJF et al. – Patients starting statins after the initiation of oral anti–diabetic treatment are more likely to discontinue treatment than patients who initiate statins before the start of oral anti–diabetics.

• The authors report an observational cohort study among patients initiating treatment with statins prior to or after initiation of oral anti–diabetics between 1999 and 2007.
• Patients were classified as starting statins prior to initiation (Prior users) or after initiation (After users) of anti–diabetics.
• Discontinuation was defined as an interval of 180 days or more between the theoretical end date of a statin/anti–diabetic prescription and the dispensing date of the next statin/anti–diabetic prescription.
• The authors included 3323 starters with oral anti–diabetic drugs in their study; 2072 patients initiated statins in the period of observation.

• Discontinuation rates for statins were higher compared with oral anti–diabetics (52.1 vs 15.0%).
• After users discontinued statin therapy more frequently compared to prior users (62.8 vs 48.2%).
• Discontinuation of statins is higher compared with anti–diabetic discontinuation.