Objective: The objective of this research was to assess the effects of statins in the prevention of Alzheimer disease.
Methods: A systematic review of MEDLINE (PubMed) was performed to identify all available published prospective studies that evaluated the effect of statin treatment on the incidence of Alzheimer disease in individuals with normal cognitive function at baseline. After the relevant studies were identified, a meta-analysis was conducted. A random-effects model was applied to compute the weighted estimate of the average treatment effect of statins on the risk of incident Alzheimer disease.
Results: Six prospective cohort studies with a total of 20,591 participants met the pre-specified selection criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The mean age of participants was ≥65 years across the six studies. Participants were followed from 3 to 17 years. From the random-effects model, the hazard ratio for Alzheimer disease in statin users as compared with nonusers was 0.76 (95% confidence interval, 0.55 to 1.06).
Conclusions: The random-effects model predicted that statin use is associated with an average reduction in risk of Alzheimer disease of 24%. Although the 95% confidence interval included the null value of 1.0, the non significant result may be due to reduced statistical power. Additional research is recommended to define the patient populations for whom statin therapy is beneficial and the appropriate type, dose, and duration of statin treatment.
","abstract_html":"<p>Objective: The objective of this research was to assess the effects of statins in the prevention of Alzheimer disease.</p><p>Methods: A systematic review of MEDLINE (PubMed) was performed to identify all available published prospective studies that evaluated the effect of statin treatment on the incidence of Alzheimer disease in individuals with normal cognitive function at baseline. After the relevant studies were identified, a meta-analysis was conducted. A random-effects model was applied to compute the weighted estimate of the average treatment effect of statins on the risk of incident Alzheimer disease.</p><p>Results: Six prospective cohort studies with a total of 20,591 participants met the pre-specified selection criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The mean age of participants was ≥65 years across the six studies. Participants were followed from 3 to 17 years. From the random-effects model, the hazard ratio for Alzheimer disease in statin users as compared with nonusers was 0.76 (95% confidence interval, 0.55 to 1.06).</p><p>Conclusions: The random-effects model predicted that statin use is associated with an average reduction in risk of Alzheimer disease of 24%. Although the 95% confidence interval included the null value of 1.0, the non significant result may be due to reduced statistical power. Additional research is recommended to define the patient populations for whom statin therapy is beneficial and the appropriate type, dose, and duration of statin treatment.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Severin, Kimberley"],"institution":"University of Cincinnati","degree_name":"MS","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Medicine: Epidemiology (Environmental Health)","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dietrich, Kim"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012","date_published":"2012","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:36:23Z","subjects":["Epidemiology","statins","Alzheimer disease","dementia","cognition","hydroxymethylglutaryl-coa reductase inhibitors"],"languages":["English"],"rights":["unrestricted","This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1352489450","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dietrich, Kim"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Severin, Kimberley"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2012"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Electronic Thesis or Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Medicine: Epidemiology (Environmental Health)"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Cincinnati"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Epidemiology","statins","Alzheimer disease","dementia","cognition","hydroxymethylglutaryl-coa reductase inhibitors"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["unrestricted","This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1352489450"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Objective: The objective of this research was to assess the effects of statins in the prevention of Alzheimer disease.
Methods: A systematic review of MEDLINE (PubMed) was performed to identify all available published prospective studies that evaluated the effect of statin treatment on the incidence of Alzheimer disease in individuals with normal cognitive function at baseline. After the relevant studies were identified, a meta-analysis was conducted. A random-effects model was applied to compute the weighted estimate of the average treatment effect of statins on the risk of incident Alzheimer disease.
Results: Six prospective cohort studies with a total of 20,591 participants met the pre-specified selection criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The mean age of participants was ≥65 years across the six studies. Participants were followed from 3 to 17 years. From the random-effects model, the hazard ratio for Alzheimer disease in statin users as compared with nonusers was 0.76 (95% confidence interval, 0.55 to 1.06).
Conclusions: The random-effects model predicted that statin use is associated with an average reduction in risk of Alzheimer disease of 24%. Although the 95% confidence interval included the null value of 1.0, the non significant result may be due to reduced statistical power. Additional research is recommended to define the patient populations for whom statin therapy is beneficial and the appropriate type, dose, and duration of statin treatment.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf","p.31","196.3 KB"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Statins and Risk of Alzheimer Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dietrich, Kim"],"dc:creator":["Severin, Kimberley"],"dc:date":["2012"],"dc:description":["Objective: The objective of this research was to assess the effects of statins in the prevention of Alzheimer disease.
Methods: A systematic review of MEDLINE (PubMed) was performed to identify all available published prospective studies that evaluated the effect of statin treatment on the incidence of Alzheimer disease in individuals with normal cognitive function at baseline. After the relevant studies were identified, a meta-analysis was conducted. A random-effects model was applied to compute the weighted estimate of the average treatment effect of statins on the risk of incident Alzheimer disease.
Results: Six prospective cohort studies with a total of 20,591 participants met the pre-specified selection criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The mean age of participants was ≥65 years across the six studies. Participants were followed from 3 to 17 years. From the random-effects model, the hazard ratio for Alzheimer disease in statin users as compared with nonusers was 0.76 (95% confidence interval, 0.55 to 1.06).
Conclusions: The random-effects model predicted that statin use is associated with an average reduction in risk of Alzheimer disease of 24%. Although the 95% confidence interval included the null value of 1.0, the non significant result may be due to reduced statistical power. Additional research is recommended to define the patient populations for whom statin therapy is beneficial and the appropriate type, dose, and duration of statin treatment.
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf","p.31","196.3 KB"],"dc:identifier":["http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1352489450"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:publisher":["University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK"],"dc:rights":["unrestricted","This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws."],"dc:subject":["Epidemiology","statins","Alzheimer disease","dementia","cognition","hydroxymethylglutaryl-coa reductase inhibitors"],"dc:title":["Statins and Risk of Alzheimer Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis"],"dc:type":["Electronic Thesis or Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Medicine: Epidemiology (Environmental Health)"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS"],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Cincinnati"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:36:23Z"}