Abstract 04: Gender and Racial Inequalities in the Use of Statins for Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Remains Despite Persistent Recommendations in Recent Guidelines - A Call to Action

Abstract

Introduction: Statins use for secondary cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention is associated with better health outcomes and lower cost among adults with ASCVD. We aimed to examine the prevalence of statin use among adults with ASCVD in the US and to assess for gender and racial differences in statin use. Methods: We identified adults aged 40-75 years with ASCVD (defined using ICD codes and self-reported history) from the 2008-17 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data. We estimated the trends in statin use among them, and used joint point regression (JPR) to estimate the annual percentage change in statin use. Logistic regression was used to assess the racial variation in statin use. We applied the weights in the MEPS complex survey design to estimate population sizes, so all results are nationally representative. Results: Between 2008 and 2017, 24896 adults aged 40-75 years with ASCVD were identified. In 2017, there were 2445 patients with ASCVD (equivalent to 24.5 million adults). In 2017, the mean age [SE] was 62.2 [0.3] years, and 42.9% were females. The overall proportion of adults with ASCVD using statin increased from 50.0% in 2008 to 58.7% in 2017, with an average annual percentage change of 0.95% between 2010 and 2017 ( p= 0.01). As shown in Figure 1a , among those with ASCVD, statin use was persistently lower in women than in men. In 2017, compared to White adults with ASCVD, Blacks (OR=0.69; 95% CI: 0.51-0.92) and Hispanics (OR=0.62; 95% CI: 0.45-0.85) were less likely to be on statin. Each year, over 3 million women with ASCVD were not on statin, and majority of them were Blacks and Hispanics. (Figure 1b) Conclusion: Millions of adults with ASCVD are not on statins in the US while gender and racial inequalities in statin use remains, despite persistent guideline recommendations. Herein lies an opportunity to improve CVD-related outcomes and cost by intensifying efforts to use statins for the secondary prevention of CVD and closing gender and racial gaps, especially with the 2030 sustainable development goals in view.