Dataset Information

Statin treatment and muscle symptoms: series of randomised, placebo controlled n-of-1 trials.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To establish the effect of statins on muscle symptoms in people who had previously reported muscle symptoms when taking statins.

Design

Series of randomised, placebo controlled n-of-1 trials.

Setting

Primary care across 50 sites in the United Kingdom, December 2016 to April 2018.

Participants

200 participants who had recently stopped or were considering stopping treatment with statins because of muscle symptoms.

Interventions

Participants were randomised to a sequence of six double blinded treatment periods (two months each) of atorvastatin 20 mg daily or placebo.

Main outcome measures

At the end of each treatment period, participants rated their muscle symptoms on a visual analogue scale (0-10). The primary analysis compared symptom scores in the statin and placebo periods.

Results

151 participants provided symptoms scores for at least one statin period and one placebo period and were included in the primary analysis. Overall, no difference in muscle symptom scores was found between the statin and placebo periods (mean difference statin minus placebo -0.11, 95% confidence interval -0.36 to 0.14; P=0.40)). Withdrawals because of intolerable muscle symptoms were 18 participants (9%) during a statin period and 13 (7%) during a placebo period. Two thirds of those completing the trial reported restarting long term treatment with statins.

Conclusions

No overall effect of atorvastatin 20 mg on muscle symptoms compared with placebo was found in participants who had previously reported severe muscle symptoms when taking statins. Most people completing the trial intended to restart treatment with statins. N-of-1 trials can assess drug effects at the group level and guide individual treatment.

Trial registration

ISRCTN30952488, EUDRACT 2016-000141-31, NCT02781064.

SUBMITTER: Herrett E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7903384 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Statin treatment and muscle symptoms: series of randomised, placebo controlled n-of-1 trials.

Herrett Emily E Williamson Elizabeth E Brack Kieran K Beaumont Danielle D Perkins Alexander A Thayne Andrew A Shakur-Still Haleema H Roberts Ian I Prowse Danielle D Goldacre Ben B van Staa Tjeerd T MacDonald Thomas M TM Armitage Jane J Wimborne Jon J Melrose Paula P Singh Jayshireen J Brooks Lucy L Moore Michael M Hoffman Maurice M Smeeth Liam L

BMJ (Clinical research ed.) 20210224

<h4>Objective</h4>To establish the effect of statins on muscle symptoms in people who had previously reported muscle symptoms when taking statins.<h4>Design</h4>Series of randomised, placebo controlled n-of-1 trials.<h4>Setting</h4>Primary care across 50 sites in the United Kingdom, December 2016 to April 2018.<h4>Participants</h4>200 participants who had recently stopped or were considering stopping treatment with statins because of muscle symptoms.<h4>Interventions</h4>Participants were random ...[more]

PMID: 33627334

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Project description:INTRODUCTION:Statins are effective at preventing cardiovascular disease, widely prescribed and their use is growing. Uncertainty persists about whether they cause symptomatic muscle adverse effects, such as pain and weakness, in the absence of statin myopathy. Discrepancies between data from observational studies, which suggest statins are associated with excess muscle symptoms, and from randomised trials, which suggest no such excess, have caused confusion. N-of-1 trials offer the opportunity to establish whether muscle symptoms during statin use are caused by statins in particular individuals. METHODS AND ANALYSIS:This series of 200 randomised, double-blinded N-of-1 trials in primary care will determine (1) the effect of statins on all muscle symptoms and (2) the effect of statins on muscle pain that is perceived to be statin related. Patients who are considering discontinuing statin use due to muscle symptoms and those who have discontinued in the last 3?years due to such symptoms will be recruited. Participants will be randomised to a sequence of six 2-month treatment periods during which they will receive atorvastatin 20?mg per day or matched placebo. On each of the last 7?days of each treatment period, participants will rate their muscle symptoms on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).At the end of their trial, participants will be shown numerical and graphical summaries of their own symptom data during statin and placebo periods. The primary analysis on the aggregate data from all participants will be a linear mixed model for VAS muscle symptom score, comparing scores during treatment with statin and placebo. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION:This trial received a favourable opinion from South Central-Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee. Results will be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Dissemination of results to patients will take place via the media, website (statinwise.lshtm.ac.uk) and patient organisations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:ISRCTN30952488.

Project description:BackgroundStatin therapy is effective for the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and is widely prescribed, but there are persisting concerns that statin therapy might frequently cause muscle pain or weakness. We aimed to address these through an individual participant data meta-analysis of all recorded adverse muscle events in large, long-term, randomised, double-blind trials of statin therapy.MethodsRandomised trials of statin therapy were eligible if they aimed to recruit at least 1000 participants with a scheduled treatment duration of at least 2 years, and involved a double-blind comparison of statin versus placebo or of a more intensive versus a less intensive statin regimen. We analysed individual participant data from 19 double-blind trials of statin versus placebo (n=123 940) and four double-blind trials of a more intensive versus a less intensive statin regimen (n=30 724). Standard inverse-variance-weighted meta-analyses of the effects on muscle outcomes were conducted according to a prespecified protocol.FindingsAmong 19 placebo-controlled trials (mean age 63 years [SD 8], with 34 533 [27·9%] women, 59 610 [48·1%] participants with previous vascular disease, and 22 925 [18·5%] participants with diabetes), during a weighted average median follow-up of 4·3 years, 16 835 (27·1%) allocated statin versus 16 446 (26·6%) allocated placebo reported muscle pain or weakness (rate ratio [RR] 1·03; 95% CI 1·01-1·06). During year 1, statin therapy produced a 7% relative increase in muscle pain or weakness (1·07; 1·04-1·10), corresponding to an absolute excess rate of 11 (6-16) events per 1000 person-years, which indicates that only one in 15 ([1·07-1·00]/1·07) of these muscle-related reports by participants allocated to statin therapy were actually due to the statin. After year 1, there was no significant excess in first reports of muscle pain or weakness (0·99; 0·96-1·02). For all years combined, more intensive statin regimens (ie, 40-80 mg atorvastatin or 20-40 mg rosuvastatin once per day) yielded a higher RR than less intensive or moderate-intensity regimens (1·08 [1·04-1·13] vs 1·03 [1·00-1·05]) compared with placebo, and a small excess was present (1·05 [0·99-1·12]) for more intensive regimens after year 1. There was no clear evidence that the RR differed for different statins, or in different clinical circumstances. Statin therapy yielded a small, clinically insignificant increase in median creatine kinase values of approximately 0·02 times the upper limit of normal.InterpretationStatin therapy caused a small excess of mostly mild muscle pain. Most (>90%) of all reports of muscle symptoms by participants allocated statin therapy were not due to the statin. The small risks of muscle symptoms are much lower than the known cardiovascular benefits. There is a need to review the clinical management of muscle symptoms in patients taking a statin.FundingBritish Heart Foundation, Medical Research Council, Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.

Project description:IntroductionAlthough statins are commonly used for prevention of cardiovascular disease, there is limited evidence about statin-related adverse effects in older people. Statin-related adverse events (AEs), especially the statin-associated muscle symptoms (SAMS), are the most common reasons for their discontinuation. Therefore, it is important to determine the risk of SAMS in the older population. We will undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis primarily focusing on the risk of SAMS and secondarily targeting myopathy, rhabdomyolysis, AEs and serious AEs, dropouts due to SAMS in run-in period, related permanent discontinuation rate of statins and creatine kinase level, among older people who received statins for primary prevention.Methods and analysisThis study has been developed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols statement. We will include randomised controlled trials in which statin was compared with placebo with at least 1 year follow-up among older adults aged ≥65. This review is an update of a Cochrane systematic review that included the articles published before 2012. Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Medline OvidSP and Embase electronic database searches will be performed to identify relevant articles, limiting the publication date from 1 January 2012 to 13 February 2017. There will be no language limitation. Two independent reviewers will screen titles and abstracts and full text in duplicate. Risk of bias and evidence quality will be assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach, respectively. A meta-analysis using pooled data will be undertaken, if appropriate. We will also perform metaregression and subgroup analyses to identify sources of heterogeneity.Ethics and disseminationThis study is exempt from ethics approval due to the anonymous and aggregated data used. The outcomes will be disseminated by conference presentations and published in a peer-reviewed journal.Trial registration numberCRD42017058436.

Project description:BackgroundA rigorous systematic review and meta-analysis focused on randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of non-individualised homeopathic treatment has not previously been reported. We tested the null hypothesis that the main outcome of treatment using a non-individualised (standardised) homeopathic medicine is indistinguishable from that of placebo. An additional aim was to quantify any condition-specific effects of non-individualised homeopathic treatment.MethodsLiterature search strategy, data extraction and statistical analysis all followed the methods described in a pre-published protocol. A trial comprised 'reliable evidence' if its risk of bias was low or it was unclear in one specified domain of assessment. 'Effect size' was reported as standardised mean difference (SMD), with arithmetic transformation for dichotomous data carried out as required; a negative SMD indicated an effect favouring homeopathy.ResultsForty-eight different clinical conditions were represented in 75 eligible RCTs. Forty-nine trials were classed as 'high risk of bias' and 23 as 'uncertain risk of bias'; the remaining three, clinically heterogeneous, trials displayed sufficiently low risk of bias to be designated reliable evidence. Fifty-four trials had extractable data: pooled SMD was -0.33 (95% confidence interval (CI) -0.44, -0.21), which was attenuated to -0.16 (95% CI -0.31, -0.02) after adjustment for publication bias. The three trials with reliable evidence yielded a non-significant pooled SMD: -0.18 (95% CI -0.46, 0.09). There was no single clinical condition for which meta-analysis included reliable evidence.ConclusionsThe quality of the body of evidence is low. A meta-analysis of all extractable data leads to rejection of our null hypothesis, but analysis of a small sub-group of reliable evidence does not support that rejection. Reliable evidence is lacking in condition-specific meta-analyses, precluding relevant conclusions. Better designed and more rigorous RCTs are needed in order to develop an evidence base that can decisively provide reliable effect estimates of non-individualised homeopathic treatment.

Project description:IntroductionMyasthenia gravis (MG), a rare neuromuscular disease, is often initially treated using acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. Patients who do not respond adequately depend on the use of corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive medication, but these may have serious side effects. Clinical observations suggest that ephedrine can diminish, postpone or even prevent the need for immunosuppressive therapy when added to acetylcholinesterase inhibitors or low-dose prednisone. In the Netherlands, ephedrine is not licensed for MG nor is reimbursement guaranteed. MG is a rare condition, and ephedrine might be indicated only in a subset of patients. Thus, randomised controlled trials comparing large groups are difficult to conduct. We, therefore, aim to aggregate data from a small series of n-of-1 trials (also known as single patient trials) to assess the effect of ephedrine as add-on treatment for MG.Methods and analysisSingle-centre, placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomised, multiple crossover n-of-1 studies in 4 adult patients with generalised MG who show inadequate improvement on pyridostigmine and/or immunosuppressive drugs. Each n-of-1 trial has 3 cycles of two 5-day intervention periods.Treatment25 mg ephedrine or placebo, twice daily.Main outcome measureQuantitative Myasthenia Gravis (QMG) test.Statistical analysisfixed effects linear model for QMG for all patients combined.Secondary outcome measuresClinical: effects on MG-Composite and MG-Activities of Daily Living (MG-ADL) scales; QMG at individual level; adverse events. Acceptability of trial design: number of patients eligible and enrolled; number of treatment cycles completed; patients' and caregivers' experiences.Ethics and disseminationThis study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Leiden University Medical Center, No. P14.108. Results of the trial will be reported in a peer-reviewed publication. Regulatory stakeholders will comment on the suitability of the trial for market authorisation and reimbursement purposes.Trial registration numberThis study is registered under EudraCT number 2014-001355-23, protocol no. 40960, V.1.0, registration date 27 March 2014.

Dataset Information

Statin treatment and muscle symptoms: series of randomised, placebo controlled n-of-1 trials.

Objective

Design

Setting

Participants

Interventions

Main outcome measures

Results

Conclusions

Trial registration

Publications

Statin treatment and muscle symptoms: series of randomised, placebo controlled n-of-1 trials.

Similar Datasets

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