More than 18 months into the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, researchers are still hoping to determine how, exactly, statin use impacts a person's risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19.
In a new study published in PLOS ONE, for example, statin use was linked to an elevated risk of a severe COVID-19 infection.
“Our study sought to investigate the potential association between statin use and COVID-19 disease severity or mortality,” wrote lead author Samuel K. Ayeh, MD, with the department of medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and colleagues. “We found no association between statin use and mortality in this cohort, but there was a statistically significant association between statin use and increased COVID-19 disease severity, defined as prolonged hospital stay (≥ 7 days) and/or need for invasive mechanical ventilation. This association was demonstrated by multivariable logistic regression and was sustained in the analysis after propensity score matching.”
The team's analysis included data COVID-19 patients admitted to multiple Johns Hopkins facilities between March 2020 and June 2020. In the study, out of 4,447 patients, 594 (13.4%) were given statins on admission. Fifty-seven percent were men. While 46.6% of statin users were Black, 73.9% presented with hypertension, and 53.4% had diabetes.
The authors also found that statin users tended to be older.
In the analysis, the average treatment effect of statin use on COVID-19-related mortality in the matched groups was not found to be statistically significant. However, statin use was associated with an 18% increased risk of severe disease in hospitalized patients.
The authors recommend follow-up clinical studies to determine if the temporary discontinuation of statins is warranted, especially among hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
Read the full study here. Prior research into this area can be found here, here and here.