Evidence mapPaperPMID 24643199Full record

SynthesisPloS one2014

Statins for the prevention of stroke: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Wen Wang, Bo Zhang

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
4.7field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

20 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 47 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Statins for the prevention of dementia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016
    Pooled it
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. National and subnational burden of stroke in Iran from 1990 to 2019.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2022
    Article
  9. One-year survival and prognostic factors for survival among stroke patients: The PROVE-stroke study.Journal of research in medical sciences : the official journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences · 2022
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Wen WangDepartment of Neurosurgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, PR China.
Bo ZhangDepartment of Neurosurgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, PR China.
Dalian Medical University · CNFirst Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundStroke is a frequently encountered clinical event that has a detrimental impact on the quality of life. Evidence has increasingly shown that statins can substantially reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. However, it remains to be determined whether statins are definitively effective in preventing stroke.

methodsWe systematically searched the PubMed, Embase, and Central databases for studies that compared the effects of statins and placebo in patients at high risk for stroke. The outcome measures were overall incidence of stroke, incidence of fatal stroke, and incidence of hemorrhagic stroke.

resultsEighteen randomized controlled trials satisfied all the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. The analysis revealed that statins reduced the overall incidence of stroke than placebo (odds ratio [OR]: 0.80; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.74-0.87; P<0.00001). In particular, statins showed efficacy in reducing the incidence of fatal stroke (OR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.67-1.21; P = 0.47) and hemorrhagic stroke (OR: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.60-1.25; P = 0.45). On the contrary, they were found to increase the overall incidence of stroke (OR: 1.12; 95% CI: 0.89-1.41; P = 0.32) and fatal stroke (OR: 1.37; 95% CI: 0.93-2.03; P = 0.11) in renal transplant recipients and patients undergoing regular hemodialysis.

conclusionThe results of this analysis suggest that statins may be beneficial in reducing the overall incidence of stroke and they may decrease the risk of fatal stroke and hemorrhagic stroke. However, statins should be used with caution in patients with a history of renal transplantation, regular hemodialysis, transient ischemic attack, or stroke. Further analyses should focus on multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trials with data stratification according to the nature of primary diseases and dose-effect relationship, to clarify the benefits of statins in protection against stroke.

Indexed as

HumansHydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase InhibitorsIncidencePrimary PreventionRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRiskStrokeHydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors

Identifiers

PMID24643199
PMCPMC3958535
OpenAlexW1983439357

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.