Introduction: With multiple proven benefits, statin therapy has become the most critical advance in stroke prevention. We aimed to evaluate the risk factors and the effect of poor adherence or statin interruption on the clinical outcomes of ischemic stroke.
Methods: This prospective cohort study included patients admitted with acute ischemic stroke between 2014 and 2018. Consecutive patients were distinguished into subgroups according to the adherence and withdrawal of statin. All participants were followed for 24 months. The outcomes included stroke recurrence, major cardiovascular events, all-cause mortality, and functional performance. Functional outcome was assessed using the modified Rankin Scale at 7 days, 30 days, 6 months, and 2 years after hospital admission for ischemic stroke. In a secondary analysis, outcome variables were compared with statin-naïve patients.
Results: We included 479 patients with acute ischemic stroke. The mean age was 58.3, and 55.0% were male. There were 96 (21.8%) patients who received no statin, 150 (34.9%) patients with poor adherence, 40 (9.1%) patients with intermediate adherence, and 154 (35.0%) patients with good adherence. There were 54 (15.7%) cases of withdrawal of treatment. Patients with hypertension, previous stroke, and large-artery atherosclerosis were associated with poor adherence (p < 0.05). Those with poor adherence were significantly associated with worse functional outcomes and a higher incidence of stroke recurrence (p < 0.05). Significant functional recovery was just seen in patients with satisfactory adherence.
Conclusion: The suboptimal use of statins is associated with significantly worse clinical outcomes in stroke patients.
Keywords: Adherence; Ischemic stroke; Outcomes; Statins; Stroke.