The main study findings were that statin therapy or more intensive statin regimen produced 21% reduction in major vascular events per mmol/L reduction in LDL cholesterol (RR 0.79) versus controls (usual care/placebo/standard statin regimen. In patients older than 75 years, risk reduction was reported to be less (RR 0.87).
A related comment notes that the lower risk reduction may be explained by inclusion of older participants with cardiac or renal dysfunction which was borne out by additional analyses excluding trials conducted in cardiac and renal failure patients. The authors add that even if the relative risk reduction in this age group is less than expected, statin therapy might still be justified by a high baseline cardiovascular risk, which is usually present in older people. They conclude that, “the present meta-analysis makes a case to reduce LDL cholesterol in people at risk of cardiovascular events regardless of age, provided that the benefits outweigh the risks and the patient accepts long-term treatment.”