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Clinical Question: Are statins effective in preventing coronary artery disease?
Setting: Outpatient (any)
Study Design: Meta-analysis (randomized controlled trials)
Synopsis: The investigators from 14 major trials of lipid-lowering medications that used statins pooled the data on 90,056 patients to provide more robust information on individual outcomes. Nine of the trials were secondary prevention studies. The median follow-up was 4.7 years (range = two to six years). Overall, the studies were composed mostly of men; approximately 21 percent had diabetes, and 54 percent had cardiovascular disease. In other words, about one out of five adults in the United States would have been eligible to participate in these studies. Statins decreased all-cause mortality (8.5 versus 9.6 percent; number needed to treat [NNT] = 86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 65 to...