Association between statin use on delirium and 30-day mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the intensive care unit

Abstract

Background: Delirium occurs frequently in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the intensive care unit. Effective prevention and treatment strategies for delirium remain limited. We aimed to assess delirium and 30-day mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who were statin and non-statin users. Methods: In this retrospective study, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were identified from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care database (MIMIC-IV). The primary exposure variable was the use of statins 3 days after entering the intensive care unit and the primary outcome measure was the presence of delirium. The secondary outcome measure was 30-day mortality. Since the cohort study was retrospective, we used an inverse probability weighting derived from the propensity score matching to balance different variables. Results: Among a cohort of 2725 patients, 1484 (54.5%) were statin users. Before propensity score matching, the prevalence of delirium was 16% and the 30-day mortality was 18% in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Statin use was significantly negatively correlated with delirium, with an odds ratio of 0.69 (95% CI 0.56–0.85, p < 0.001) in the inverse probability weighted cohort and 30-day mortality of 0.7 (95% CI 0.57–0.85, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Statin use is associated with a lower incidence of delirium and 30-day mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the intensive care unit.