The Effectiveness of Atorvastatin, Rosuvastatin, and Simvastatin among Coronary Heart Disease/Coronary Heart Disease Risk Equivalent Patients in Usual Clinical Practice

The objectives of this study were to compare the effectiveness of atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, and simvastatin among coronary heart disease (CHD)/CHD risk equivalent patients in usual clinical practice. A cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted by using electronic database among patients who were newly prescribed statin therapy during October 2004 to September 2007 and did not receive dyslipidemic drugs in the preceding 6 months. Patients aged 35 years or older with CHD/CHD risk equivalent and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) baseline>100 mg/dL were included. Patients must receive statins not less than 90 days. Outcome measurements were the percentage of patients who achieved LDL-C goal according to NCEP ATP III guidelines and mean of percent change in LDL-C reduction. Economic assessment included only drug costs. Chi-square test and ANOVA were used for statistic analysis. Of the 1,024 patients who met the study criteria, 794 taking simvastatin, 109 taking atorvastatin, and 121 taking rosuvastatin. Patients had average age of 62 years and 47.9 percent were male. Results showed that lipid goal achievement, LDL-C <100 mg/ dL, of rosuvastatin (78 percent), simvastatin (68 percent), and atorvastatin (62.4 percent) were not statistically different (p=0.078). The mean percentage change in LDL-C reduction of rosuvastatin was greatest compared with simvastatin and atorvastatin (46.1, 38.5, and 38.2 percent, p<0.05)