Statins may facilitate Parkinson's disease: Insight gained from a large, national claims database
Funding Agencies: This work was supported by The Center for Applied Studies in Health Economics and Dr. Huang's internal funds.
Relevant conflicts of interests/financial disclosures: Nothing to report.
This article was published online on April 3, 2017. After online publication, minor revisions were made to the text. This notice is included in the online and print versions to indicate that both have been corrected on May 7, 2017.
Abstract
Objective
Using a large U.S. claims database (MarketScan), we investigated the controversy surrounding the role of statins in Parkinson's disease (PD).
Methods
We performed a retrospective case-control analysis. First, we identified 2322 incident PD cases having a minimum of 2.5 years of continuous enrollment prior to earliest diagnosis code or prescription of antiparkinson medication. A total of 2322 controls were then matched individually by age, gender, and a follow-up window to explore the relationship of statin use with incident PD.
Results
Statin usage was significantly associated with PD risk, with the strongest associations being for lipophilic (odds ratio = 1.58, P < .0001) versus hydrophilic (odds ratio = 1.19, P = .25) statins, statins plus nonstatins (odds ratio = 1.95, P < .0001), and for the initial period after starting statins (<1 year odds ratio = 1.82, 1-2.5 years odds ratio = 1.75, and ≥2.5 years odds ratio = 1.37; Ptrend < .0001).
Conclusion
The use of statin (especially lipophilics) was associated with higher risk of PD, and the stronger association in initial use suggests a facilitating effect. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
