Association between the Use of Statins and Incidence of Interstitial Lung Disease/Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Cohort Study

Abstract

Study Aim: There is an ongoing debate regarding the association between statin use and incidence of interstitial lung disease (ILD). We aim to investigate whether statin use lower the incidence of ILD and IPF.

Study Design and Methods: A population-based longitudinal cohort study was performed between January 2004 and December 2015 in South Korea. Eligible participants were ≥40 years of age and were divided into statin and non-statin user groups. Statin use during the study was calculated for each participant. Newly developed ILD, including IPFs, were considered during a 12-year observation period. The association between statin use and ILD/IPF incidence was evaluated using adjusted Cox regression models with variables, including age, sex, smoking history, cholesterol level, and comorbidities.

Results: From the entire cohort of 512,802 adults, 201 participants were excluded, owing to ILD diagnosis. From the 512,601 participants included in the study, 300,576 did not use statin and 212,025 participants were using statins before the ILD development and during the study period. Among the statin users, 560 (0.26%) developed ILD during the study period, while 1,526 (0.50%) of the non-statin users developed ILD during the study period. In a multivariate analysis, the use of statins before ILD diagnosis was independently associated with a lower incidence of ILD (hazard ratio [HR], 0.58; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52-0.65; P<0.001) and development of IPF (HR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.69-0.92; P<0.001).

Conclusions: Statin use might be independently associated with a lower incidence of ILD, as well as IPF development.