Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive and irreversible disease characterized by inflammation in the patients' airways. Approximately 80% of COPD cases are associated with a patients' previous or current smoking status. COPD is also associated with several comorbidities including cardiovascular disease (CVD). This means that COPD patients are often prescribed statins in addition to their COPD therapy. Recently, the understanding of the system wide effects of COPD has improved. Whereas COPD was thought only impact the lungs, new evidence suggests that there may be systemic inflammatory effects from COPD. These effects are thought to negatively affect patients' health outcomes. There is additional evidence to suggest that statins might confer benefits to patients' by reducing systemic inflammation thereby improving health outcomes for COPD patients. The objective of this study is to test this idea by looking at patients' hospitalizations and survival. This study uses population level data for the province of British Columbia to evaluate the effect of statin use among COPD patients on hospitalizations and mortality. This data comprises demographic information, hospital discharges, and prescription records for all residents of British Columbia. COPD patients were identified by using their prescription records to identify medications used as treatment for COPD. Adherence to statin treatment was also calculated. Using the method above, we identified 38 300 COPD patients. Of these, 10 384 were newly prescribed a statin. Forty-nine percent of patients were considered adherent to their medication. The results suggest that statins reduce the risk of hospitalization for a COPD related cause by 17% and for any cause by 37%. Moreover, statin therapy appears to reduce mortality for lung-related causes by 60% and for any cause by 35%. Statin use in COPD patients appears to benefit patients by reducing the risk of hospitalization and improving survival.