Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36239913›Full record

ArticleClinical drug investigation2022

Effectiveness of Simvastatin Versus Gemfibrozil for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Events: A Retrospective Cohort Study of 223,699 Primary Care Patients.

Joseph E Blais, Xuxiao Ye, Eric Y F Wan, William C W Wong, Ian C K Wong, Brian Tomlinson, Esther W Chan

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical drug investigation, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Observational
  3. Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 6 institutions in 5 countries.

Joseph E BlaisCentre for Safe Medication Practice and Research, Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, General Office, L02-56 2/F, Laboratory Block LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7895-198X
Xuxiao YeCentre for Safe Medication Practice and Research, Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, General Office, L02-56 2/F, Laboratory Block LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9316-4666
Eric Y F WanCentre for Safe Medication Practice and Research, Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, General Office, L02-56 2/F, Laboratory Block LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6275-1147
William C W WongDepartment of Family Medicine and Primary Care, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2540-4055
Ian C K WongCentre for Safe Medication Practice and Research, Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, General Office, L02-56 2/F, Laboratory Block LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8242-0014
Brian TomlinsonFaculty of Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6717-5444
Esther W ChanCentre for Safe Medication Practice and Research, Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, General Office, L02-56 2/F, Laboratory Block LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China. ewchan@hku.hk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7602-9470
University of Hong Kong · HKHKU-Pasteur Research Pole · HKHong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation · HKMacau University of Science and Technology · MOUniversity College London · GBUniversity of Hong Kong - Shenzhen Hospital · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

objectiveEvidence of the effectiveness of statins compared with fibrates for primary prevention of cardiovascular events is limited. Therefore, we assessed the comparative effectiveness of simvastatin versus gemfibrozil for primary prevention of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and mortality.

methodsThis territory-wide cohort study used electronic health records of simvastatin and gemfibrozil prescriptions from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority and compared simvastatin or gemfibrozil initiation. The primary outcome was MACE, defined as the composite of the first diagnosis of cardiovascular mortality, coronary heart disease, or stroke. Secondary outcomes were the individual components of MACE, all-cause mortality, and non-cardiovascular mortality. Inverse probability of treatment weighting on the propensity score was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs).

resultsA total of 223,699 individuals (120,207 [53.7%] women; median follow-up 7.0 years [interquartile range 5.7-9.1]) who were prescribed simvastatin (n = 168,630) or gemfibrozil (n = 55,069) were included. Simvastatin was associated with a reduced risk of MACE (HR 0.90, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.88-0.93), all-cause mortality (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.86-0.90), cardiovascular mortality (HR 0.71, 95% CI 0.67-0.76), and non-cardiovascular mortality (HR 0.92, 95% CI 0.89-0.95). Associations for MACE varied according to baseline characteristics with gemfibrozil being associated with a reduced risk of MACE in men and patients with low baseline high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (< 1.0 mmol/L).

conclusionThe results of this study showed better population-level effectiveness of simvastatin compared with gemfibrozil for the primary prevention of MACE; however, a definitive randomized controlled trial is required to compare simvastatin with gemfibrozil among patients with low HDL cholesterol, as they appear to obtain benefit with gemfibrozil.

Indexed as

Coronary DiseaseGemfibrozilCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMalePrimary Health CarePrimary PreventionRetrospective StudiesSimvastatinGemfibrozilSimvastatin

Identifiers

PMID36239913
OpenAlexW4306165994

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.