Previous studies reported that the association between statins use and influenza infection was contradictory. A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies were performed to determine the association between statins use and influenza susceptibility. The literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science, from each database's inception to 21 May 2023. The fixed effect model and random effects model were used for data synthesis. In our study, a total of 1,472,239 statins users and 1,486,881 statins non-users from five articles were included. The pooled risk ratio (RR) of all included participants was 1.05 (95% CI: 1.03-1.07), and there were still significant differences after adjusting for vaccination status. Of note, RR values in statins users were 1.06 (95% CI: 1.03-1.08) in people aged ≥60 years old and 1.05 (95% CI: 1.03-1.07) in participant groups with a higher proportion of females. Administration of statins might be associated with an increased risk of influenza infection, especially among females and elderly people. For those people using statins, we should pay more attention to surveillance of their health conditions and take measures to prevent influenza infection.
Keywords: infection risk; influenza; statins; susceptibility.