Abstract

Tze Jian Chin, Cassandra Szoeke*, Alexandra Gorelik and Ying Tan

ABSTRACT

Objective: Although statins are known as the first line of cholesterol treatment, how statins will affect cognition over time is not well understood and the literature is conflicting. In recent systematic reviews, it has been highlighted that only 11% of research examines more than a decade, yet data from composite reviews suggest timing is important. The existing studies have focused on short-term effect of statins on cognitive functions, mainly for men. Although women make up a large percentage of the older population, the benefits and risk of long-term statin treatment for primary prevention has not been investigated. Thus, the primary aim of this study was to evaluate the longitudinal prospective of statin use from 1992-2016 and cognitive function in healthy Australian women, and determine whether statin usage including type and duration of use modify this relationship in this 24-year follow-up period. Methods: 344 women (average age 58.49) from the WHAP study, were included in this analysis. Six cognitive domains (episodic memory, visuospatial, global cognitive function, speed of processing, attention and executive function) were assessed. Statin use was recorded across 24 years. Results: Controlling for age, education and cardiovascular risk score, statin use by women was associated with the greatest deteriorated episodic memory (p = 0.002) and visuospatial ability (p = 0.02) over time. Statin users were mostly in the low performing group compared to non-users across this 24-year period. Statin types also appear crucial as the lipophilic statins (atorvastatin and simvastatin) users demonstrated a poorer cognition than non-users (p