Effect of statin use during hospitalization for intracerebral hemorrhage on mortality and discharge disposition

Abstract

Importance: Statin use during hospitalization is associated with improved survival and a better discharge disposition among patients with ischemic stroke. It is unclear whether inpatient statin use has a similar effect among patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

Objective: To determine whether inpatient statin use in ICH is associated with improved outcomes and whether the cessation of statin use is associated with worsened outcomes.

Design, setting, and participants: Retrospective cohort study of 3481 patients with ICH admitted to any of 20 hospitals in a large integrated health care delivery system over a 10-year period. Detailed electronic medical and pharmacy records were analyzed to explore the association between inpatient statin use and outcomes.

Main outcomes and measures: The primary outcome measures were survival to 30 days after ICH and discharge to home or inpatient rehabilitation facility. We used multivariable logistic regression, controlling for demographics, comorbidities, initial severity, and code status. In addition, we used instrumental variable modeling to control for confounding by unmeasured covariates at the individual patient level.

Results: Among patients hospitalized for ICH, inpatient statin users were more likely than nonusers to be alive 30 days after ICH (odds ratio [OR], 4.25 [95% CI, 3.46-5.23]; P < .001) and were more likely than nonusers to be discharged to their home or an acute rehabilitation facility (OR, 2.57 [95% CI, 2.16-3.06]; P < .001). Patients whose statin therapy was discontinued were less likely than statin users to survive to 30 days (OR, 0.16 [95% CI, 0.12-0.21]; P < .001) and were less likely than statin users to be discharged to their home or an acute rehabilitation facility (OR, 0.26 [95% CI, 0.20-0.35]; P < .001). Instrumental variable models of local treatment environment (to control for confounding by unmeasured covariates) confirmed that a higher probability of statin therapy was associated with a higher probability of 30-day survival (with an increase in probability of 0.15 [95% CI, 0.04-0.25]; P = .01) and a better chance of being discharged to home or an acute rehabilitation facility (with an increase in probability of 0.13 [95% CI, 0.02-0.24]; P = .02).

Conclusions and relevance: Inpatient statin use is associated with improved outcomes after ICH, and the cessation of statin use is associated with worsened outcomes after ICH. Given the association between statin cessation and substantially worsened outcomes, the risk-benefit balance of discontinuing statin therapy in the acute setting of ICH should be carefully considered.