Willingness to be Reinitiated on a Statin (from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study)

Guidelines recommend attempting to reinitiate statins in patients who discontinue treatment. Previous experiences while taking a statin, including side effects, may reduce a patient’s willingness to reinitiate treatment. We determined the percentage of adults who are willing to reinitiate statin therapy after treatment discontinuation. Factors associated with willingness to reinitiate a statin were also examined. A statin questionnaire was administered and study examination conducted in black and white US adults enrolled in the nationwide REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke study from 2013 to 2017. In participants who self-reported ever having taken a statin (n = 7,216, mean age 72 years, 53% women, 34% black), 1,081 (15%) reported having discontinued treatment. Among those who discontinued treatment, statin side effects, perceived lack of need for a statin, and cost were reported by 66%, 31%, and 3% of participants, respectively. Overall, 37% of participants who had discontinued treatment were willing to reinitiate statin therapy. Participants who discontinued treatment due to cost (prevalence ratio [PR] 1.61; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01, 2.57) were more likely to report a willingness to reinitiate therapy. Participants with a low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol ≥130 mg/dl versus