The prevention of stroke by statins: A meta-analysis

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to determine the preventive effects of statins on stroke.Methods: The published randomized controlled trials of statins for stroke prevention were searched from PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and China Journal databases. We performed the meta-analysis via calculating the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) to study the mortality rate, incidence, and recurrence rate of patients with stroke in the prevention group and the control group. Chi-square-based Q test and I 2 statistics were performed to test the potential heterogeneity; we conducted the sensitivity analysis to assess the stability of our analysis. Moreover, we performed the Begg and Egger tests to assess the publication bias.Results: Nine studies were included to perform meta-analysis, which included 15,497 patients (prevention group [n = 4114]; control group [n = 11383]). We found that the statins were not associated with the patients with stroke in mortality rate (OR = 1.00, 95% CI [0.82, 1.23]) and incidence (OR = 0.94, 95% CI [0.46, 1.92]) between the 2 groups. However, there was a significant differences in recurrence rate between the 2 groups (OR = 0.31, 95% CI [0.19, 0.51]).Conclusions: Our findings indicated that the statins were associated with the patients with stroke in recurrence rate, but there was no significant correlation with the mortality and morbidity of patients with stroke.

Navigating the Statin Landscape: A Comprehensive Review of Stroke Prevention Strategies

“…On the other hand, evidence strongly indicates that statins are associated with a reduction in the absolute risk of ischemic strokes and cardiovascular events [ 18 ]. However, a different meta-analysis presented a contrasting perspective, suggesting that statins may not have a definite preventive effect on strokes [ 21 ]. The effectiveness of statins in stroke prevention remains a subject of ongoing research and debate, with studies yielding disparate results.…”

“…Another comprehensive meta-analysis, incorporating both randomized controlled trials and observational cohort studies, indicated that statins diminished the odds of stroke of any type and recurrence of ischemic stroke [ 25 ]. However, a more recent meta-analysis suggested that statins may not definitively prevent strokes [ 21 ]. The evidence suggests that statins might be effective in reducing the risk of stroke in individuals with a history of stroke.…”