Impact of statins on mortality and disease progression in patients with Alzheimer's disease: a nationwide cohort study

Abstract

Recent studies have investigated the neuroprotective potential of statins; however, clinical evidence for delayed Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression remains scarce. This study investigated the association between statin use and AD progression, as assessed by mortality and memantine initiation. Using data from the Korean National Health Insurance Database, we retrospectively analyzed a cohort of patients aged 60-79 years diagnosed with AD in 2010. After 1:1 propensity score matching, 7,086 patients were included in the study. Statin use was associated with a reduced risk of mortality (HR, 0.84; 95 % CI = 0.74-0.97), notably among previous users (HR, 0.82; 95 % CI = 0.70-0.97), while no delay in memantine initiation was observed (HR, 1.04; 95 % CI = 0.86-1.26). Results were consistent across sensitivity analyses, with no significant interactions by age, sex, or comorbidities. These findings suggest a potential mortality benefit of statins in AD, warranting further investigation into their therapeutic role.