Choosing Between Guidelines: Statins for Primary CVD Prevention

Clinical guidelines on the initiation of statin therapy to prevent atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) are published by several professional societies. A recent review¹ compared 2 prominent sets of recommendations,^2,3 applying guidance from each to a nationally representative US population. They found that approximately 15% (~16.0 million) fewer adults would be eligible for statin therapy for primary prevention under 2022 recommendations from the United States Preventive Services Task Force² compared to the 2018 recommendatios from the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology/ Multisociety consortium.³ Following is a Patient Care^® Guideline Topline summary of what the authors found.

THE POPULATION: Ambulatory, non-pregnant US adults aged 40–75 years with LDL-C <190 mg/dL and no prevalent ASCVD from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017–2020 (N=1799)

References

1. Gupta K, Kakar TS, Jain V, et al. Comparing eligibility for statin therapy for primary prevention under 2022 USPSTF recommendations and the 2018 AHA/ACC/ multi-society guideline recommendations: From National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 2022;75:78-82. doi:10.1016/j.pcad.2022.08.007

2. USPSTF. Statin use for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in adults: Preventive medication: United States Preventive Services Taskforce. February 22, 2022. Updated August 23, 2022. Accessed July 5, 2023. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/
recommendation /statin-use-in-adults-preventive-medication

3. Grundy SM, Stone NJ, Bailey AL, et al. 2018 AHA/ACC/AACVPR/AAPA /ABC/ACPM/ADA/AGS/APhA/ASPC/NLA/PCNA guideline on the management of blood cholesterol: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Circulation. 2019;139(25):e1082-e143 doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000625