Comparative effectiveness of rosuvastatin versus other statin therapies in patients at increased risk of failure to achieve low-density lipoprotein goals.

OBJECTIVES: Statins are increasingly used in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Research has shown difficulty in attaining LDL-C goals in routine clinical practice, especially in patients at high risk for coronary events. This study identified risk factors associated with failure to attain LDL-C goals in routine clinical practice and examined the effectiveness of rosuvastatin compared to other statins in patients presenting with these risk factors.

METHODS: This retrospective observational study used administrative claims data on patients receiving statins. After stratifying patients into baseline National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III) risk categories, logistic regression allowed identification of factors predicting failure to attain LDL-C goal. Separate analyses compared failure rates between rosuvastatin and other statins in patients at an increased risk of goal attainment failure.

RESULTS: Of the 4661 patients identified, 50% and 14% had baseline NCEP ATP III high and moderate risk status, respectively. Risk factors associated with goal attainment failure were percentage change required to achieve goal > or = 30%, NCEP high risk status, percentage change required 15-29%, and NCEP moderate risk status. Patients at an increased risk of failure exhibited significantly higher failure rates in all other statin groups compared to rosuvastatin.

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that patients requiring > or = 15% change in LDL-C or NCEP high or moderate risk patients are at a higher risk of goal attainment failure. Rosuvastatin is more effective compared to other statins in patients with these risk factors and given variations in clinical profiles of branded and generic statins, these results may aid in identifying patients most likely to benefit from rosuvastatin compared to other statin therapies. Validating the results of this study in other patient populations would help increase the generalizability of study findings.