Home › Research › Drug development
Statins and cognitive function: a systematic review
Richardson K, Schoen M, French B, Umscheid CA, Mitchell MD, Arnold SE, Heidenreich PA, Rader DJ et al.. Annals of internal medicine, 2013-11-01
Topic: Drug trials: efficacy and safety
Background Despite the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning regarding cognitive impairment, the relationship between statins and cognition remains unknown. Purpose To examine the effect of statins on cognition. Data sources PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library from inception through October 2012; FDA databases from January 1986 through March 2012. Study selection Randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies evaluating cognition in patients receiving statins. Data extraction Two reviewers extracted data, 1 reviewer assessed study risk of bias, and 1 reviewer checked all assessments. Data synthesis Among statin users, low-quality evidence suggested no increased incidence of Alzheimer disease and no difference in cognitive performance related to procedural memory, attention, or motor speed. Moderate-quality evidence suggested no increased incidence of dementia or mild cognitive impairment or any change in cognitive performance related to global cognitive performance scores, executive function, declarative memory, processing speed, or visuoperception. Examination of the FDA postmarketing surveillance databases revealed a low reporting rate for cognitive-related adverse events with statins that was similar to the rates seen with other commonly prescribed cardiovascular medications. Limitations The absence of many well-powered RCTs for most outcomes resulted in final strengths of evidence that were low or moderate. Imprecision, inconsistency, and risk of bias also limited the strength of findings. Conclusion Larger and better-designed studies are needed to draw unequivocal conclusions about the effect of statins on cognition. Published data do not suggest an adverse effect of statins on cognition; however, the strength of available evidence is limited, particularly with regard to high-dose statins.
Key findings
- Examination of the FDA postmarketing surveillance databases revealed a low reporting rate for cognitive-related adverse events with statins that was similar to the rates seen with other commonly prescribed cardiovascular medications.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Treatments →
Study details
- Study designcase-control study
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 67/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a systematic review of all the studies on the question. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported and studied in people because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 39 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 67 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Annals of internal medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 12 / 12 | A systematic review of all the studies on the question (from PubMed type “Systematic Review”) |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2013 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | A review of other studies — randomisation is not credited here |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 24247674) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 39 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 39 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 67 out of 100. |
| Total | 67 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Richardson, K., Schoen, M., French, B., Umscheid, C. A., Mitchell, M. D., Arnold, S. E., et al. (2013). Statins and cognitive function: a systematic review. Annals of internal medicine. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-159-10-201311190-00007
Vancouver
Richardson K, Schoen M, French B, Umscheid CA, Mitchell MD, Arnold SE, et al. Statins and cognitive function: a systematic review. Annals of internal medicine. 2013. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-159-10-201311190-00007. PMID: 24247674.
BibTeX
@article{richardson2013-24247674,
author = {Richardson, K. and Schoen, M. and French, B. and Umscheid, C. A. and Mitchell, M. D. and Arnold, S. E. and Heidenreich, P. A. and Rader, D. J. and others},
title = {{Statins and cognitive function: a systematic review}},
journal = {Annals of internal medicine},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.7326/0003-4819-159-10-201311190-00007},
pmid = {24247674},
url = {https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-159-10-201311190-00007}
}
Related studies in Drug development
Also tagged “metabolic-syndrome”
304 studies in the library carry the topic tag “metabolic-syndrome”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 304 tagged studies.