Stopping preventive statins met the trial’s death-risk limit
Among trial participants aged 75 or older without prior plaque-related cardiovascular disease, 7.2% died after stopping statins versus 7.9% continuing over 36 months.
36 months, multicenter, registered NCT02547883
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In a randomized trial, 1,180 adults aged 75 or older with no prior cardiovascular disease caused by artery plaque were assigned to continue or stop statins. All had taken statins for prevention for at least one year. Among 1,160 participants analyzed, the median age was 80; 66.8% were women, 77.2% had high blood pressure and 29.5% had diabetes. Follow-up lasted 36 months across 297 primary care offices.
At 36 months, deaths occurred in 7.2% of participants who stopped statins and 7.9% who continued. Stopping was non-inferior: the upper end of the estimated mortality difference remained below the prespecified margin of 5 percentage points. The range included no difference and smaller increases. Adverse events occurred in 390 (74.0%) of 527 participants who stopped statins and 461 (73.1%) of 631 who continued.
Why it matters
The benefits of statins for preventing a first episode of plaque-related cardiovascular disease remain uncertain in people aged 75 or older. The authors concluded that these findings support individualized decisions about stopping statins in this population.
Caveats
The trial was open-label, meaning participants and researchers knew who stopped or continued statins. The findings do not cover people younger than 75, those with prior plaque-related cardiovascular disease, or those with dementia or progressive disease limiting life expectancy to three months or less.
The paper
Université de Bordeaux
The Lancet Healthy Longevity, Aug 11, 2026, Open access
