Statins Increase Risk of Osteoarthritis in Elderly Women

Statins could reduce the risk of OA because of their anti-inflammatory effects.

In elderly women, use of statins appears to be associated with an increased risk of developing radiographic hip osteoarthritis (OA). However, established disease does not seem to be adversely affected.

Dr. Nancy E. Lane of the University of California at San Francisco and colleagues note that statins could reduce the risk of OA because of their anti-inflammatory effects. However, their actual impact on OA is unknown.

To investigate further, the researchers examined data on 5674 women aged 65 years or more, of whom 7% were statin users. At baseline, radiographic hip OA was seen in 936 hips in 745 women and 9318 hips showed no such evidence.

Follow-up at 8 years showed that statin use was associated with an increased risk (odds ratio, 1.92) of developing incident hip OA – based on a score of 3 or more on a 5-point scale. However, it was not related to other measure of new disease.

Moreover, there was a consistent but non-significant trend towards decreased progression in statin users who had had hip OA at baseline.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Christopher J. Penney of the University of Calgary thus notes that although there was a modest but significant increase in the chance of radiographic hip OA, "statins were not associated with worsening of structural disease."
J Rheumatol 2005;32:106-110.

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