LOS ANGELES: Patients with atrial fibrillation who used statins may be less likely to develop nonvascular dementia compared with those who do not use statins.
AF is associated with cognitive decline and may increase risk for dementia, but the effect of statins on that relationship had not yet been studied, according to the study background. Previous research has indicated a lower risk for dementia in the general population of statin users.
Researchers analyzed data on adults with AF aged 60 years or older collected from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. Based on age and sex, they matched 51,253 adults with AF treated with statins with 205,015 adults with AF who had not been exposed to statins (mean age, 73.2 years; 49.7% men; 92.5% with hypertension).
The primary endpoint was nonvascular dementia. Patients were diagnosed with AF between 1996 and 2011 and were followed for 10 years or until the end of the study.