Table 6.

Patients' reasons for stopping or switching a statin

	Total Patients, N = 2306	Current Statin Users Who Have Switched, n = 1998	Past Statin Users, n = 308
Side effects experienced while on the medication	27	22	55a
Muscle/joint pain	20	17	42a
Side effects other than muscle/joint pain	11	9	29a
It was recommended to me	25	27a	8
The medication did not lower my LDL‐C (“bad cholesterol”) level enough	13	13	15
The cost of the medication	13	14a	7
I wanted to switch from a brand‐name to a generic statin	12	14a	2
The medication was not effective in managing my high cholesterol	12	13a	6
The medication did not lower my TG level enough	10	11a	5
The medication was not covered by my insurance	9	10a	2
The medication did not address my overall cholesterol levels	8	8	10
The risk of interfering with other medications I was taking	4	3	9a
I wanted to switch from a generic to a brand‐name statin	1	2	0
Other	11	9	26a
Do not know/cannot remember	12	13a	6

Abbreviations: LDL‐C, low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol; TG, triglycerides. Data are presented as %.

^aSignificant difference between current and former statin users, P < 0.05.