Table 7.
Characteristics of Patients Initiating a Statin Without a History of CHD or DM in 2007–2014
| Calendar Year | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
| n | 239 058 | 258 626 | 325 082 | 321 807 | 328 819 | 282 255 | 265 499 | 223 722 |
| Age, % | ||||||||
| 21–44 y | 17.2 | 17.0 | 17.9 | 18.0 | 17.9 | 17.6 | 17.3 | 15.7 |
| 45–54 y | 35.8 | 35.6 | 35.9 | 35.7 | 35.5 | 34.6 | 34.1 | 32.1 |
| 55–64 y | 41.7 | 41.9 | 41.8 | 42.2 | 42.6 | 43.1 | 43.4 | 45.0 |
| 66–70 y | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.6 |
| 71–75 y | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 2.0 |
| 76–80 y | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.2 |
| 81–85 y | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
| ≥86 y | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Male sex, % | 49.9 | 49.4 | 50.3 | 50.6 | 50.6 | 50.7 | 51.0 | 51.6 |
| Race/ethnicity, %* | ||||||||
| White | 83.0 | 84.3 | 84.6 | 83.9 | 84.2 | 84.8 | 85.2 | 85.0 |
| Black | 8.0 | 7.6 | 7.1 | 7.2 | 7.3 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 7.4 |
| Asian American | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 2.6 |
| Hispanic | 3.2 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 1.8 |
| Other | 2.3 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 3.2 |
| Initiation of high‐intensity statin, % | 6.9 | 7.9 | 7.7 | 7.4 | 8.1 | 9.9 | 10.3 | 12.9 |
| Preindex statin fill characteristics, % | ||||||||
| History of CHD | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| History of DM | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| History of stroke | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
| History of peripheral artery disease | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| History of HF | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| History of CKD | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 2.0 |
| History of dementia | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Depression | 23.2 | 22.9 | 22.8 | 23.0 | 23.2 | 23.5 | 23.7 | 23.7 |
| Taking antihypertensive medication | ||||||||
| No | 55.6 | 55.9 | 57.2 | 57.9 | 58.2 | 58.0 | 57.6 | 56.0 |
| Yes, with low adherence | 12.8 | 13.0 | 13.1 | 12.9 | 12.8 | 12.6 | 12.3 | 12.8 |
| Yes, with high adherence | 31.6 | 31.1 | 29.7 | 29.2 | 29.0 | 29.4 | 30.1 | 31.2 |
| Taking nonstatin lipid‐lowering medication | 21.0 | 14.8 | 11.5 | 10.3 | 9.1 | 8.1 | 7.5 | 7.0 |
| Postindex statin fill characteristics, % | ||||||||
| New diagnosis of CHD | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 2.0 |
| New diagnosis of DM | 2.1 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.7 |
| New diagnosis of stroke | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| New diagnosis of HF | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| New diagnosis of CKD | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 |
| New diagnosis of dementia | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Cardiologist care | 7.7 | 8.0 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 8.7 | 9.3 | 10.2 |
| Number of medications taken | ||||||||
| <5 | 53.1 | 53.9 | 54.7 | 55.3 | 56.0 | 55.1 | 54.6 | 52.7 |
| 5–9 | 34.9 | 34.7 | 34.3 | 33.9 | 33.5 | 33.9 | 34.2 | 34.9 |
| ≥10 | 12.0 | 11.4 | 11.0 | 10.8 | 10.5 | 10.9 | 11.2 | 12.4 |
CHD indicates coronary heart disease; CKD, chronic kidney disease; DM, diabetes mellitus; HF, heart failure; MI, myocardial infarction.
*
Limited to patients in Medicare.