Factors Associated with Reinitiation of Statin Treatment in Older Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease.

BACKGROUND Long-term persistence represents a basic precondition of successful statin treatment in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). OBJECTIVES The aims of our study were evaluation of reinitiation in older PAD patients who were non-persistent with statin treatment, and identification of patient-related characteristics associated with the patient's probability of reinitiation. METHODS Our study cohort included 2977 older patients (≥ 65 years) who were non-persistent with statin treatment in whom PAD was newly diagnosed in 2012. Reinitiation was defined as the first statin prescription recorded after discontinuation. To analyze factors associated with the patient´s probability of reinitiation, Cox regression with time-dependent covariates was applied. RESULTS After post-discontinuation follow-up of a mean of 27 months, reinitiation of statin treatment was recorded for 1244 (41.8%) patients. Increasing age, Parkinson's disease, being a new statin user (patient in whom statin treatment was initiated in association with PAD diagnosis), general practitioner as the index prescriber who prescribed a statin for the first time after diagnosis of PAD, coadministration of loop diuretics, and longer persistence before discontinuation decreased the patient's likelihood of reinitiation, whereas myocardial infarction during non-persistence, high-intensity statin treatment, and increasing number of medications increased the patient's probability of reinitiation. CONCLUSIONS In patients with characteristics associated with a lower probability of reinitiation, more concentrated outreach and further evaluation of these groups to identify interventions that might be helpful to encourage reinitiation are needed.