Table 1.
Demographic characteristics of statin users and statin non-users among gastric cancer patients after surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy in Taiwan during 1999–2008 in the matched cohort.
| Variables | Statin Users (N = 367) |
Statin Non-Users (N = 1468) |
p-Value * | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | ||
| Gender | 0.5543 | ||||
| Female | 159 | 43.3 | 611 | 41.6 | |
| Male | 208 | 56.7 | 857 | 58.4 | |
| Age at Surgery | 0.4388 | ||||
| 18–64 | 172 | 46.9 | 655 | 44.6 | |
| ≥65 | 195 | 53.1 | 813 | 55.4 | |
| Mean (SD) | 64.3 (10.5) | 64.1 (12.6) | 0.758 | ||
| Insured Salaries (NTD$/month) a | |||||
| 0+ | 70 | 19.1 | 277 | 18.9 | |
| 1–15,840 | 38 | 10.4 | 154 | 10.5 | |
| 15,841–25,000 | 185 | 50.4 | 733 | 49.9 | |
| >25,000 | 74 | 20.2 | 304 | 20.7 | |
| Urbanization Level | 0.5232 | ||||
| Very High | 106 | 28.9 | 395 | 26.9 | |
| High | 170 | 46.3 | 737 | 50.2 | |
| Moderate | 62 | 16.9 | 241 | 16.4 | |
| Low | 29 | 7.9 | 95 | 6.5 | |
| Comorbidities | |||||
| Hypertension | 214 | 58.3 | 878 | 59.8 | 0.6009 |
| Diabetes Mellitus | 122 | 33.2 | 467 | 31.8 | 0.5996 |
| Alcoholism | 8 | 2.2 | 23 | 1.6 | 0.4150 |
| Smoking-related disorder | 40 | 10.9 | 166 | 11.3 | 0.8244 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 13 | 3.5 | 64 | 4.4 | 0.4848 |
| Liver cirrhosis | 14 | 3.8 | 61 | 4.2 | 0.7682 |
| Chemotherapy Regimen | 0.9425 | ||||
| Group 1 (epirubicin-based) | 29 | 7.9 | 105 | 7.2 | |
| Group 2 (mitomycin-based) | 49 | 13.4 | 205 | 14.0 | |
| Group 3 (taxanes) | 2 | 0.5 | 10 | 0.7 | |
| Group 4 (others) b | 287 | 78.2 | 1148 | 78.2 | |
| Medication | |||||
| Triglyceride-Lowering Drugs | 0.0046 | ||||
| User | 19 | 5.2 | 35 | 2.4 | |
| Non-user | 348 | 94.8 | 1433 | 97.6 | |
| Non-Statin Lipid-Lowering Drugs | 0.4756 | ||||
| User | 8 | 2.2 | 24 | 1.6 | |
| Non-user | 359 | 97.8 | 1444 | 98.4 | |
| ACE Inhibitors | 0.9579 | ||||
| User | 98 | 26.7 | 390 | 26.6 | |
| Non-user | 269 | 73.3 | 1078 | 73.4 | |
| Aspirin | 0.3669 | ||||
| User | 123 | 33.5 | 529 | 36.0 | |
| Non-user | 244 | 66.5 | 939 | 64.0 | |
| NSAID | 0.7487 | ||||
| User | 291 | 79.3 | 1175 | 80.0 | |
| Non-user | 76 | 20.7 | 293 | 20.0 | |
| Death | 138 | 37.6 | 895 | 61.0 | |
* Pearson’s chi-square test for categorical variables and t-test for continuous variables. a 1 USD = 32.3 New Taiwan Dollars (NTD) in the year 2008. b Others: cisplatin, carboplatin, oxaliplatin, 5-FU (fluorouracil), capecitabine, TS-1 (tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil), and tegafur.