Gout is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and premature mortality. We examined the potential survival benefit of statin use among gout patients in the general population.
We performed an incident user cohort study with time-stratified propensity score matching using a database representative of the UK general population between January 1999 and December 2014. To account for potential confounders, we compared propensity score-matched cohorts of statin initiators and non-initiators within 1-year cohort accrual blocks. We estimated the hazard ratio (HR) for mortality using a Cox proportional hazard model and the mortality rate difference using an additive hazard model. We examined potential subgroup effects stratified by key factors, including circulatory disease history.
Among 17,018 statin initiators, 2025 deaths occurred during the follow-up (mean = 5.0 years) with a mortality rate of 24.0/1000 person-years (PY). The number of deaths and all-cause mortality rate among matched comparators during the follow-up (mean = 4.6 years) were 2503 and 31.7/1000 PY respectively. Compared with non-initiators, statin initiators experienced a 16% lower relative risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.79-0.89) and 7.7 (95% CI: 6.1-9.3) fewer deaths per 1000 PY. This protective association was stronger among those without prior circulatory disease (HRs = 0.65 vs. 0.85; p for interaction = 0.02).
In this general population-based cohort study, statin initiation was associated with a lower risk of mortality in gout, potentially with greater benefits among those without prior circulatory disease. The proper use of statins may help to substantially improve the premature mortality in gout.