Statins for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease
Authors: Paul C. Sorum
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2019)

Letters2 July 2019Statins for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular DiseasePaul C. Sorum, MD, PhDPaul C. Sorum, MD, PhDAlbany Medical College, Albany New York (P.C.S.)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L19-0258 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Yebyo and colleagues (1) provide clinicians with powerful new data for a personalized discussion with patients of the benefit–harm ratio associated with receiving statins. To help us further, however, I would ask the authors to clarify some of their calculations.The importance of potential benefits and harms in decision making depends on their frequencies and perceived intensities. The frequencies used by Yebyo and colleagues—higher than those reported in a recent Annals review (2)—are based on a meta-analysis reported, in part, in the supplementary materials and submitted for publication elsewhere. The perceived intensities of good or bad effects, ...References1. Yebyo HG, Aschmann HE, Puhan MA. Finding the balance between benefits and harms when using statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease: a modeling study. Ann Intern Med. 2019;170:1-10. [PMID: 30508425]. doi:10.7326/M18-1279 LinkGoogle Scholar2. He Y, Li X, Gasevic D, et al. Statins and multiple noncardiovascular outcomes: umbrella review of meta-analyses of observational studies and randomized controlled trials. Ann Intern Med. 2018;169:543-53. [PMID: 30304368]. doi:10.7326/M18-0808 LinkGoogle Scholar3. Yebyo HG, Aschmann HE, Yu T, et al. Should statin guidelines consider patient preferences? Eliciting preferences of benefit and harm outcomes of statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in the sub-Saharan African and European contexts. BMC Cardiovasc Disord. 2018;18:97. [PMID: 29776337] doi:10.1186/s12872-018-0838-9 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Albany Medical College, Albany New York (P.C.S.)Disclosures: The author has disclosed no conflicts of interest. His form can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=L19-0258. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoFinding the Balance Between Benefits and Harms When Using Statins for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Henock G. Yebyo , Hélène E. Aschmann , and Milo A. Puhan Statins for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease J. David Spence Statins for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Zhen Zhou Statins for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Benjamin Djulbegovic and Iztok Hozo Statins for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Henock G. Yebyo , Hélène E. Aschmann , and Milo A. Puhan Statins for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Chester B. Good , Inmaculada Hernandez , and Natasha Parekh Metrics 2 July 2019Volume 171, Issue 1Page: 74KeywordsCardiovascular diseasesConflicts of interestDecision makingDisclosureMusclesStatins ePublished: 2 July 2019 Issue Published: 2 July 2019 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2019 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...