. To examine the association between use of HMG CoA reductase inhibitor (statin) and development and progression of radiographic findings of hip osteoarthritis (OA) in elderly women.
Baseline and followup anteroposterior pelvic radiographs were obtained, a mean of 8 years apart, in 5674 women (69% of the total survivors) age 65 years and older from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures. Hips were scored for individual radiographic features (IRF) and assigned a summary grade of radiographic hip osteoarthritis (RHOA) based on the number and type of IRF present. Statin use was recorded from prescription labels provided by participants at Year 6 and Year 8 of followup. We estimated odds ratios for the development of RHOA in hips without disease at baseline and for progression of RHOA in hips with baseline disease, using generalized estimating equations to account for correlations of right and left hips.
RHOA was present in 936 hips of 745 women at baseline and there were 9318 hips without baseline RHOA. Overall, 7% of women in this cohort were statin users. Statin use was associated with increased odds of developing incident summary grade > or = 3 RHOA (OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.03-4.43, p = 0.045), but was not significantly related to other measures of new RHOA. In hips with baseline RHOA there was a consistent but nonsignificant trend toward decreased progression of RHOA in statin users (all OR between 0.69 and 0.76, with 95% CI between 0.29 and 1.67).
Statin use may be associated with an increased risk of developing incident RHOA but does not adversely influence progression of established disease.