Perceptions of Cardiovascular Risk and Beliefs on Statin Drugs with Racial Differences in Statin Use

African Americans are less likely to receive statin at guideline-recommended intensity than whites, according to a study published June 13 in JAMA Cardiology. Using data from the Provider Assessment of Lipid Management (PALM) registry, researchers compared primary and secondary statin use in 5,689 patients.

Primary Outcomes

Primary study outcomes were the use and dosage of guideline-recommended statin therapy divided by use among blacks and whites. The results suggested that African Americans were less likely to receive statins at guideline-recommended intensity. African Americans were also less likely to believe that statins were safe and less likely to trust their clinician. The researchers did note that the statistical significant diminished after adjusting for demographic, cultural, clinical and clinical factors.  

In the #news: “Why are Statins Underused With Black Patients?” read more via @HealthDayEditor https://t.co/KuUMYD2N7D

— JAMA Cardiology (@JAMACardio) June 17, 2018

“The reasons underlying these racial differences in statin treatment are poorly understood, so we wanted to see if African Americans in contemporary medicine are treated less aggressively than whites, and if so, we wanted to look at the reasons why,” lead author Michael Nanna, MD, of the Suke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., commented in a US News report.  

Source: JAMA Cardiology