title: Decreased prevalence of dementia associated with statins: a national population-based study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Dementia is a neurodegenerative disorder that presents a progressive decline in cognitive function and loss of short-term memory with age. Several studies have shown that statin, an oral lipid-lowering drug, may reduce the risk of developing dementia. The objective of this study is to explore the association between statin and the development of dementia.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data analyzed in this study were retrieved from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. The sample consisted of 123 300 patients ≥ 20 years of age, including 61 650 dementia patients with statin use and 61 650 patients without statin use who were eligible for inclusion in this study. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were performed to measure the effects of statin use on the risk of dementia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The beneficial effect of statin on dementia was significant after adjusting for sociodemographic factors and comorbidities (adjusted hazard ratio of 0.92, 95% confidence interval 0.86-0.98). The sex- and age-specific analysis of adjusted hazard ratios showed a higher beneficial effect from statin treatment in women than in men, and the effect became more significant with age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Statin therapy may help prevent the development of dementia, and both hydrophilic and lipophilic statins produce similar effects. However, the preventive characters and associated mechanisms must be further explored and identified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan; Department of Life Sciences, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C-S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: C-L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: M-C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: F-C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: C-H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors
keywords: National Health Insurance Research Database; dementia; statin