Prior statin therapy and 30‐day mortality in South Korean patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Background: The effect of prior statin therapy on mortality in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains controversial. This study aimed to investigate whether prior statin therapy was associated with lower 30‐day mortality compared to non‐statin use. Methods: This population‐based cohort study used nationwide data procured from the National Health Insurance service in South Korea, and included all the adult patients admitted to a hospital for ARDS treatment between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2017. Results: In total, 14,600 patients with ARDS were included: 4,319 were statin users and 10,281 were non‐statin users. After propensity score matching, 6,046 patients with ARDS (3,023 patients in each group) were included in the analysis. The 30‐day mortality of statin users was 44.4% (1,331 of 3,023), while that of non‐statin users was 45.2% (1,331 of 3,023). On Cox regression analysis in the propensity score matched cohort, 30‐day mortality was not significantly associated with statin use compared to non‐statin use (hazard ratio: 0.95, 95% confidence interval: 0.88 to 1.02; P =.165). On Kaplan‐Meier estimation, the median survival time in statin users was 45 days (95% CI: 39 to 50), while that in non‐statin users was 42 days (95% CI: 37 to 47) after propensity score matching, and there was no statistical difference with the log‐rank test (P =.215). Conclusion: This population‐based cohort study in South Korea showed that prior statin therapy was not significantly associated with 30‐day mortality in patients with ARDS. Our findings should be confirmed in future prospective studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]