Patient characteristics and statin discontinuation-related factors during treatment of hypercholesterolemia: an observational non-interventional study in patients with statin discontinuation (STAY study)
Lale Tokgözoğlu1, Ramazan Özdemir2, Rojhat Altındağ3, Ceyhun Ceyhan4, Ekrem Yeter5, Cihan Öztürk6, Fahri Bayram7, Tuncay Delibaşı8, Muzaffer Değertekin9, Mustafa Hakan Dinçkal10, Ibrahim Keleş11, Ali Serdar Fak12, Sinan Aydogdu12, Cafer Zorkun12, Zeynep Tartan121Department of Cardiology, Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey2Department of Cardiology, Inonu University, Faculty of Medicine, Malatya, Turkey
3Department of Cardiology, Diyarbakir Training and Research Hospital, Diyarbakir, Turkey
4Department of Cardiology, Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Medicine, Aydin, Turkey
5Department of Cardiology, Diskapi Yildirim Bayezit Research and Training Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
6Department of Cardiology, Kahramanmaraş Pazarcık Private Middle East Health Center, Kahramanmaras, Turkey
7Department Of Endocrinology And Metabolism, Erciyes University, Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey
8Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Diskapi Yildirim Bayezit Research and Training Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
9Department of Cardiology, Yeditepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
10Department of Cardiology, Bagcilar Research and Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
11Department of Cardiology, Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
12Department of Cardiology, Akademi Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
13Dept. of Cardiology, Turkish High Specialty Training and Research Hospital, Ankara
14Dept. of Cardiology, Yedikule Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul
15Dept. of Cardiology, Ataşehir Memorial Hospital, Istanbul
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to identify patient characteristics and statin discontinuation-related factors in patients with hypercholesterolemia.
METHODS A total of 532 patients (age mean±SD: 57.4±11.5 years; 52.4% women, 47.6% men) with hypercholesterolemia and statin discontinuation were included in this national cross-sectional noninterventional observational study. Data on socio-demographic characteristics of patients, cardiovascular risk factors, past treatment with and discontinuation of statin treatment were collected in one visit.
RESULTS Mean±SD duration of hypercholesterolemia was 4.9±4.2 years at time of discontinuation of statin treatment. Statin treatment was initiated by cardiologists in the majority of cases (55.8%), whereas discontinuation of statin treatment was decided by patients in the majority of cases (73.7%), with patients with higher (at least secondary education, 80.4%) more likely than those with lower (only primary education, 69.7%) to decide to discontinue treatment (p=0.022). Negative information about statin treatment disseminated by TV programs-mostly regarding coverage of hepatic (38.0%), renal (33.8%), and muscular (32.9%) side effects (32.9%)-was the most common reason for treatment discontinuation.
CONCLUSION The decision to discontinue statin treatment was made at the patient’s discretion in 74% of cases, with higher likelihood of patients with higher educational status deciding to discontinue treatment and switch to non-drug lipid-lowering alternatives. Cardiologists were the physicians most frequently responsible for the initiation of the statin treatment; coverage of several non-lifethreatening statin side effects by TV programs and patients’ lack of information regarding high cholesterol and related risks were the leading factors predisposing to treatment discontinuation.
Manuscript Language: English
Journal Citation Indicator: 0.18
CiteScore: 1.1
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per Paper: 0.22
SCImago Journal Rank: 0.348
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