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Long-Term Statin Use Associated With Decreased Risk of Gallstones Requiring Surgery CHICAGO -- November 10, 2009 -- Use of statins for more than 1 year is associated with a reduced risk of having gallstones requiring surgery, according to a study published in the November 11 issue of JAMA. Michael Bodmer, MD, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland, and colleagues conducted a large long-term observational study to examine the association between statin use and the risk of developing gallstone disease followed by cholecystectomy. The study included data from between 1994 and 2008 from the UK-based General Practice Research Database. A total of 27,035 patients with cholecystectomy and 106,531 matched controls were identified, including 2,396 patients and 8,868 controls who had statin use. The researchers found that compared with nonuse, current statin use (last prescription recorded within 90 days before the first-time diagnosis of the disease) was 1.0% for patients and 0.8% for controls for 1 to 4 prescriptions; 2.6% versus 2.4% for 5 to 19 prescriptions, and 3.2% versus 3.7% for 20 or more prescriptions. “This large observational study provides evidence that patients with long-term statin use have a reduced risk of gallstone disease followed by cholecystectomy compared with patients without statin use,” the authors wrote. “However, the odds ratio was not decreased for patients with short-term statin use but started to decrease after 5 prescriptions, reflecting approximately 1 to 1.5 years of treatment. The risk estimate was consistent across age and sex groups. Adjustment for important risk factors for gallstone disease did not materially alter the results.” The authors add that the observed risk reduction suggests a class effect for all statins, and that there was a tendency toward a lower risk of gallstone disease for high-dose statin use compared with low-dose exposure. A substantially increased gallstone risk with cholecystectomy was found for patients with high body mass indexes and for patients with oestrogen use. “Our findings may be of clinical relevance given that gallstone disease represents a major burden for healthcare systems,” the researchers concluded. SOURCE: JAMA E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version