Statin Use and Pain in Older People with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Link to article at PubMed

Statin Use and Pain in Older People with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study.

J Am Geriatr Soc. 2014 Oct 3;

Authors: Turner JP, Shakib S, Singhal N, Hogan-Doran J, Prowse R, Johns S, Thynne T, Bell JS

Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To investigate statin use and pain in people with cancer aged 70 to 79 and 80 and older.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional.
SETTING: Medical oncology outpatient clinic at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 70 and older who presented consecutively between January 2009 and June 2010 (n = 385), of whom 106 were aged 80 and older.
MEASUREMENTS: Participants completed a structured data collection instrument, documenting medication use, comorbidities and a general pain assessment (10-point visual analogue scale (VAS)). Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for factors associated with statin use.
RESULTS: The prevalence of statin use was 35% (n = 97) in people aged 70 to 79 and 39% (n = 41) in those aged 80 and older. After adjusting for age, sex, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and analgesic use, statin use was associated with self-reported pain (VAS ≥5) (OR = 4.09, 95% CI = 1.32-12.68) in people aged 80 and older but not in those aged 70 to 79. Half of participants using statins (51% n = 70) had a palliative treatment approach. Of the 41 statin users aged 80 and older, 20 (49%) were using statins for primary prevention.
CONCLUSION: The prevalence of statin use was similar in people aged 70 to 79 years and those aged 80 and older, with statin use associated with self-reported pain in people aged 80 and older. This highlights a potential benefit of "deprescribing" statins in older people with cancer, especially those aged 80 and older.

PMID: 25284040 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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