Abstract W P269: High vs. Moderate-intensity Statin Therapy After Ischemic Stroke: Findings from PROSPER

Abstract

Background: Current treatment guidelines recommend high-intensity statin therapy for patients with a history of stroke. However, older patients with higher comorbidity were under-represented in trials and dosing varies in clinical practice. We compared the effectiveness of high vs moderate-intensity statins on clinical outcomes in older patients from the GWTG-Stroke registry. Methods: We studied statin-naïve ischemic stroke patients ≥65 years from GWTG-Stroke linked to Medicare claims from 2008-2011 who were discharged on statins. Outcomes included home time days (days alive and not in acute or post-acute care facility), major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), mortality, all-cause, stroke and CV readmission within 2 years of discharge. We estimated unadjusted and adjusted associations between statin intensity and outcomes using negative binomial and Cox proportional hazards models. Inverse-weighted estimates of the probability of high-intensity statin (IPW) were used to adjust for treatment selection. Results: Of 29,631 ischemic stroke patients discharged on statins, 9,145 (31%) received high-intensity statins. Patients receiving high-intensity statins were younger and had higher LDL-C compared with patients on moderate-intensity statins. The high-intensity statin group had 5 fewer home time days and higher all-cause readmission within 2 years, but other observed outcomes were similar (Table). Except for a slightly higher hazard of all-cause readmission with high-intensity statin use, there were no significant differences in MACE, hemorrhagic stroke, or other outcomes after IPW adjustment (Table). Conclusions: We found no differences in MACE or home time days within 2 years of initiation of high vs. moderate-intensity statin therapy following ischemic stroke. These findings can inform patients and clinicians regarding the risk-benefit associated with statin dosing after ischemic stroke.