Evidence mapPaperPMID 42264468Full record

ArticleEuropean heart journal2026

Statins and survival free of incident frailty among older US veterans.

Saadia Qazi, Brian Charest, Nicholas M Pajewski, Kathryn E Callahan, Denise K Houston, Sara E Espinoza, Daniel E Forman, Karen P Alexander, Luc Djousse, J Michael Gaziano and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European heart journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

13 authors.

Saadia QaziNew England GRECC (Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center), VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA02130, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-5394-9530
Brian CharestMassachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, 02130 MA, USA.
Nicholas M PajewskiDepartment of Biostatistics and Data Science, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
Kathryn E CallahanDepartment of Internal Medicine, Section on Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
Denise K HoustonDepartment of Internal Medicine, Section on Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
Sara E EspinozaCenter for Translational Geroscience, Department of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Daniel E FormanDivision of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Karen P AlexanderDuke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
Luc DjousseMassachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, 02130 MA, USA.
J Michael GazianoMassachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, 02130 MA, USA.
David R GagnonMassachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, 02130 MA, USA.
Jane A DriverNew England GRECC (Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center), VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA02130, USA.
Ariela R OrkabyNew England GRECC (Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center), VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA02130, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4297-6306

Funding

PREVENTABLE Frailty Ancillary StudyR01AG081287 · BOSTON VA RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC. · 2025 to 2025
$1.3M
CSRD VA IK2 CX001800NIANIA NIH HHS R01 AG081287NIA NIH HHS R03 AG060169
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

aimsFrailty is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) through shared pathophysiology and risk factors, and frailty is a known modifiable risk factor for CVD. Statins reduce CVD risk and have anti-inflammatory properties that may lower the risk of frailty, though this has not been comprehensively examined.

methodsOlder US veterans (aged ≥67 years) who were statin naïve and received regular care in the Veteran Affairs (VA) medical system from 2002 to 2018 were included. Veterans who were frail at baseline based on a validated 31-item VA-Frailty Index (VA-FI) were excluded (scores >0.2). Data were linked to Medicare and Medicaid. Overlap propensity score weighting (PSW) was used to address confounding by indication. Cox regression models were fit to examine the association of statin use with the composite outcome of incident frailty with censoring at death. Similar analyses were conducted on pre-frail veterans (VA-FI score of 0.1-0.2).

resultsOf 987 301 veterans included in the study population (age 72 ± 6 years; 98% men; 87% white), 290 729 initiated statins during the study period. During a mean follow-up of 5.3 (SD 4.1) years, 636 195 incident frailty events occurred, representing unadjusted event rates of 153.1 events per 1000 person-years among statin initiators and 111.4 events per 1000 person-years in non-initiators. After PSW, new statin initiators were less likely to experience incident frailty (hazard ratio 0.76, 95% confidence interval 0.75-0.76) compared to non-initiators. Similar results were seen in pre-frail veterans.

conclusionsStatin initiation was associated with a significantly lower risk of incident frailty or death among older US veterans including those who were pre-frail at baseline.

Indexed as

AgeingCardiovascular diseaseEpidemiologyFrailtyPreventionStatins

Identifiers

PMID42264468
PMCPMC13390471

What Socratic holds

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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.