Statin use and the risk of Parkinson's disease: An updated meta-analysis

Abstract

Introduction: In response to the ongoing debate over the relationship between the use of statins and the risk of Parkinson's disease (PD), we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies to examine their association. Methods: We conducted a review of the literature using electronic databases supplemented by a manual search to identify potentially relevant case-control or cohort studies. Summary relative risk (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were also conducted. Results: Eleven studies (five case-control and six cohort) with a total of 3,513,209 participants and 21,011 PD cases were included. Statin use was associated with a lower risk of PD, with a summary RR of 0.81 (95% CI 0.71-0.92). Sensitivity analysis demonstrated the robustness of results. Subgroup analyses showed that neither study design nor study region significantly influenced the effect estimates. However, subgroup studies adjusted forage or sex had a greater inverse association than did unadjusted analyses (age-adjusted RR 0.75, 95% CI 0.60-0.95; age-unadjusted RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.75-0.99 and sex-adjusted RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.59-0.98; sex-unadjusted RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.79-0.92). Conclusions: Results of this systematic review suggest that statin use is associated with a reduced PD risk. However, randomized controlled trials and more observational studies should be performed before strong conclusions are drawn.