Effects of age, gender and statin dose on lipid levels: Results from the VOYAGER meta-analysis database

Background and aims The effectiveness of statins in the treatment of dyslipidaemia and reduction of cardiovascular risk is well established. However, the association of statin-mediated lipid effects with age and gender is unclear. This study aimed to determine whether age and gender are associated with statin-mediated changes in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and non-HDL-C. Methods Individual patient data (n = 32,258) were obtained from VOYAGER. Least-squares mean percentage change from baseline in LDL-C, non-HDL-C and HDL-C with atorvastatin 10–80 mg, rosuvastatin 5–40 mg or simvastatin 10–80 mg was estimated in women aged <70 years, women aged ≥70 years, men aged <70 years and men aged ≥70 years. Results All statins and doses gave significant dose-dependent reductions in LDL-C and non-HDL-C, and increases in HDL-C, in all four patient groups. A 2.1% greater reduction in LDL-C was observed in women, compared with men (p < 0.0001). Patients aged ≥70 years experienced a 2.7% greater reduction in LDL-C compared with younger patients (p < 0.0001). Similar results were also observed for statin-mediated changes in non-HDL-C. Men experienced a significantly greater increase in HDL-C than women, and patients aged ≥70 years achieved a significantly greater increase than younger patients (both p = 0.001). Conclusions While statins improve the lipid profile in all gender and age groups analysed, the improvements are greater in women than in men and in those aged ≥70 years compared with those aged <70 years.