Statin use in people with COPD was not associated with a lower risk for COPD exacerbation, according to a study published in BMJ Open. James Sheppard, PhD, BSc, PGCert, and colleagues aimed to investigate this association using a methodological approach, which reduces the biases associated with some previous observational study designs. They conducted a retrospective cohort study comparing new users of statins with non-users, using data from general practices in England contributing to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink in 2007-2017, with linkage to data on Hospital Episode Statistics inpatient episodes. The study included 48,124 patients older than 40 with COPD who had not been prescribed statin in the previous year. The investigators found that 7,266 participants became new users of statins during an average 2.5 years of follow-up. In total, 30,961 patients developed an exacerbation, 8,110 severe exacerbations, 3,650 UTIs, and 5,355 died. Adjusted HR (95% CI) in statin users compared with non-users were 1.01 (0.96-1.06) for first exacerbation, 0.92 (0.84-0.99) for severe exacerbation, 1.00 (0.97-1.04) for number of exacerbations, 1.10 (0.98-1.23) for UTI, and 0.63 (0.57-0.70) for death.
