Few long-term follow-up studies have compared the changes in renal function according to the type of statin used in Korea. We compared the long-term effects of statin intensity and type on the changes in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR). We extracted data of patients who took statin for the first time. We analyzed whether or not different statins affect the changes in GFR at 3 months after baseline and 4 years after. We included 3678 patients and analyzed the changes in GFR. The GFR decreased by 3.2% ± 0.4% on average 4 years after the first statin prescription, indicating statistically significant deterioration (from 83.5 ± 0.4 mL/min/1.73 m2 to 79.9 0.4 mL/min/1.73 m2, P < 0.001). When comparing the GFR among different statins, significant differences were observed between atorvastatin and fluvastatin (-5.3% ± 0.7% vs. 1.2% ± 2.2%, P < 0.05) and between atorvastatin and simvastatin (-5.3% ± 0.7% vs. -0.7% ± 0.8%, P < 0.05). In pitavastatin (odds ratio [OR]= 0.64, 95% confidence interval [CI]= 0.46-0.87, P < 0.005) and simvastatin (OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.53-0.91, P < 0.008), the GFR rate that decreased by < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 was significantly lower than that of atorvastatin. Regarding long-term statin intake, GFR changed with the type of statin. This work is the first in Korea to compare each statin in terms of changes in the GFR after the statin prescription.
Keywords: HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor; chronic kidney disease; glomerular filtration rate; statin.