New Analysis Estimates Numbers of Older U.S. Adults Who May Benefit From Stat...( American Heart Association r...),Health

American Heart Association rapid access journal report:

Study highlights:

• A new analysis estimates more than 11 million older Americans could be newly eligible for statin therapy if findings from the JUPITER trial are adopted into guidelines.
• That could take the number of older adults eligible for statin therapy to over 44 million, or 80 percent of that population.
• The analysis highlights a public health challenge since, even under current treatment guidelines, fewer than half of older Americans who qualify for statin therapy actually get it.
• More analysis of the JUPITER data will be needed before findings are put into practice.

DALLAS , Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Researchers estimate more than 11 million older Americans may be newly eligible for statin therapy if findings from a recently published large clinical trial are adopted into clinical practice guidelines, according to a new analysis of the trial data. The analysis is published online in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

Using data from the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, researchers found that 33.5 million older Americans (men age 50 years and older and women age 60 years and older) are currently taking a statin (24.4 percent) or have risks that would indicate a need for statin therapy based on current guidelines but do not take a statin (33.5 percent).

They estimated that an additional 19.2 percent of older adults could be considered eligible for statin therapy based on their matching the inclusion criteria used in a recently published clinical trial, Justification for the Use of statins in Primary prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin (JUPITER), presented in November at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008 in New Orlean
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