Table 1.
Characteristics of VHA veterans with and without a positive respiratory swab for SARS-CoV-2 (1 March 2020–10 March 2021), stratified by presence of an active statin prescription at enrolment
| Overall | No positive respiratory swab for SARS-CoV-2 | ≥1 positive respiratory swab for SARS-CoV-2 | ||||||||
| n=4 801 406 | No statin prescription | Active statin prescription | No statin prescription | Active statin prescription | ||||||
| n=3 180 888 | n=1 389 364 | n=161 891 | n=69 263 | |||||||
| Age, years | 61.6 | ±16.7 | 58.3 | ±17.7 | 69.3 | ±10.8 | 57.8 | ±17.5 | 68.0 | ±11.4 |
| Age category, years | ||||||||||
| 19–39 | 661 777 | 14% | 613 885 (19) | 19% | 15 272 (1) | 1% | 31 645 (20) | 20% | 975 (1) | 1% |
| 40–49 | 482 871 | 10% | 402 201 | 13% | 54 467 | 4% | 22 718 | 14% | 3485 | 5% |
| 50–59 | 728 340 | 15% | 516 328 | 16% | 172 006 | 12% | 29 099 | 18% | 10 907 | 16% |
| 60–69 | 993 105 | 21% | 600 530 | 19% | 346 361 | 25% | 28 785 | 18% | 17 429 | 25% |
| 70–79 | 1 408 065 | 29% | 735 949 | 23% | 610 855 | 44% | 33 303 | 21% | 27 958 | 40% |
| 80+ | 525 548 | 11% | 311 010 | 10% | 189 825 | 14% | 16 204 | 10% | 8509 | 12% |
| Sex at birth, female | 601 692 | 13% | 509 443 | 16% | 68 275 | 5% | 20 598 | 13% | 3376 | 5% |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||||||
| White | 3 335 105 | 69% | 2 122 989 | 67% | 1 055 742 | 76% | 106 448 | 66% | 49 926 | 72% |
| Black | 860 829 | 18% | 582 091 | 18% | 226 384 | 16% | 38 080 | 24% | 14 274 | 21% |
| Hispanic | 333 593 | 7% | 230 848 | 7% | 79 866 | 6% | 17 770 | 11% | 5109 | 7% |
| Other | 542 562 | 11% | 430 377 | 14% | 94 575 | 7% | 13 410 | 8% | 4200 | 6% |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 30.2 | ±6.09 | 29.8 | ±6.04 | 30.8 | ±6.06 | 30.9 | ±6.35 | 31.9 | ±6.26 |
| Body mass index category, kg/m² | ||||||||||
| <18.5 | 28 116 | 1% | 20 717 | 1% | 6230 | 1% | 951 | 1% | 218 | 0% |
| 18.5–24.9 | 553 988 | 17% | 379 204 | 20% | 152 657 | 14% | 16 249 | 15% | 5878 | 11% |
| 25–29.9 | 1 107 238 | 35% | 687 781 | 36% | 367 799 | 34% | 34 949 | 32% | 16 709 | 30% |
| 30–34.9 | 869 628 | 27% | 507 893 | 26% | 313 277 | 29% | 30 944 | 29% | 17 514 | 32% |
| 35–39.9 | 399 754 | 13% | 224 651 | 12% | 149 833 | 14% | 15 734 | 15% | 9536 | 17% |
| ≥40 | 208 950 | 7% | 113 491 | 6% | 80 708 | 8% | 9077 | 8% | 5674 | 10% |
| Active statin prescription 6 months prior to enrolment | 1 375 009 | 29% | 259 070 | 8% | 1 046 850 | 75% | 17 020 | 11% | 52 069 | 75% |
| Never | 1 747 387 | 36% | 1 338 452 | 42% | 328 440 | 24% | 62 782 | 39% | 17 713 | 26% |
| Former | 1 729 275 | 36% | 984 318 | 31% | 651 438 | 47% | 58 321 | 36% | 35 198 | 51% |
| Current | 1 323 044 | 28% | 857 133 | 27% | 408 908 | 29% | 40 651 | 25% | 16 352 | 24% |
| Urban/rural/highly rural zip code | ||||||||||
| Highly rural | 57 047 | 1% | 34 211 | 1% | 20 620 | 1% | 1360 | 1% | 856 | 1% |
| Rural | 1 561 076 | 33% | 975 607 | 31% | 518 394 | 37% | 43 690 | 27% | 23 385 | 34% |
| Urban | 3 172 176 | 66% | 2 163 063 | 68% | 847 474 | 61% | 116 643 | 72% | 44 996 | 65% |
| Unknown | 9407 | 0% | 7022 | 0% | 2298 | 0% | 61 | 0% | 26 | 0% |
| Estimated glomerular filtration rate, mL/min/1.73 m² | ||||||||||
| ≥90 | 938 310 | 27% | 654 399 | 31% | 235 893 | 20% | 36 230 | 32% | 11 788 | 19% |
| 60–89 | 1 718 393 | 49% | 1 034 287 | 49% | 599 357 | 50% | 54 598 | 48% | 30 151 | 48% |
| 45–59 | 520 635 | 15% | 268 392 | 13% | 226 556 | 19% | 13 799 | 12% | 11 888 | 19% |
| 30–44 | 212 116 | 6% | 100 776 | 5% | 100 175 | 8% | 5626 | 5% | 5539 | 9% |
| 15–29 | 58 464 | 2% | 27 223 | 1% | 27 527 | 2% | 1906 | 2% | 1808 | 3% |
| <15 or dialysis | 25 765 | 1% | 12 803 | 1% | 10 449 | 1% | 1503 | 1% | 1010 | 2% |
| Diabetes | 1 482 197 | 31% | 679 909 | 21% | 716 920 | 52% | 44 364 | 27% | 41 004 | 59% |
| Hypertension | 2 874 378 | 60% | 1 551 529 | 49% | 1 176 398 | 85% | 86 382 | 53% | 60 069 | 87% |
| Cardiovascular disease | 1 749 197 | 36% | 857 912 | 27% | 794 940 | 57% | 53 635 | 33% | 42 710 | 62% |
| Heart failure | 352 710 | 7% | 144 971 | 5% | 183 128 | 13% | 12 388 | 8% | 12 223 | 18% |
| Alcohol use disorder | 909 010 | 19% | 629 005 | 20% | 238 333 | 17% | 31 212 | 19% | 10 460 | 15% |
| Statin prescribed | ||||||||||
| None | 3 341 657 | 70% | 3 179 903 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 161 754 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Atorvastatin | 872 981 | 18% | 829 795 | 60% | 43 186 | 62% | ||||
| Fluvastatin | 364 | <1% | 348 | 0% | 16 | 0% | ||||
| Lovastatin | 15 375 | <1% | 14 751 | 1% | 624 | 1% | ||||
| Pitavastatin | 801 | <1% | 748 | <1% | 53 | <1% | ||||
| Pravastatin | 123 779 | 3% | 118 039 | 8% | 5740 | 8% | ||||
| Rosuvastatin | 173 943 | 4% | 165 066 | 12% | 8877 | 13% | ||||
| Simvastatin | 270 806 | 6% | 260 039 | 19% | 10 767 | 16% | ||||
| High-potency statin (vs low or moderate potency)* | 616 824 | 42% | 0 | <1% | 585 224 | 42% | 0 | <1% | 31 600 | 46% |
| Mean hsCRP in the prior 6 months, mg/L† | 17.3 | ±136 | 16.4 | ±151 | 18.2 | ±120 | 19.9 | ±49.6 | 21.0 | ±52.9 |
| hsCRP in the prior 6 months ≥2 mg/L† | 390 796 | 41% | 217 408 | 40% | 145 787 | 42% | 17 407 | 44% | 10 194 | 45% |
| Mean hsCRP at or after the index date, mg/L‡ | 29.3 | ±54.1 | 22.2 | ±46.6 | 25.6 | ±50.8 | 57.8 | ±70.8 | 65.2 | ±71.1 |
| hsCRP at or after the index date ≤2 mg/L‡ | 125 178 | 52% | 61 501 | 46% | 34 630 | 49% | 18 260 | 75% | 10 787 | 79% |
| Outcomes | ||||||||||
| Hospital admission within 30 days | 124 094 | 3% | 61 651 | 2% | 29 953 | 2% | 20 280 | 13% | 12 210 | 18% |
| ICU admission within 30 days | 15 438 | <1% | 5710 | <1% | 3588 | <1% | 3754 | 2% | 2386 | 3% |
| Death within 30 days | 31 409 | 1% | 13 074 | <1% | 6224 | <1% | 7815 | 5% | 4296 | 6% |
Data are presented as mean±SD for continuous variables and n (%) for categorical variables.
P values for global differences in participant characteristics across categories of COVID-19 diagnosis and prior statin use all <0.001.
*Based on estimated % low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol reduction.
†Up to 14 days prior to index date (overall n=958 343).
‡Overall n=224 930.
VHA, Veterans Health Administration.