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The impact of prior long-term versus short-term statin use on the mortality of bacteraemic patients

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An Erratum to this article was published on 15 October 2011

Abstract

Background

The aim of this investigation was to assess the effect of prior statin use on the 30-day in-hospital mortality among bacteraemic patients and to determine the impact of long-term versus short-term statin use on the mortality of bacteraemic patients.

Patients and methods

A retrospective study of 342 bacteraemic patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) within a period of 7 years was undertaken. Twenty-three patients did not meet the inclusion criteria. The remaining 319 patients were divided into three groups according to statin use and duration of therapy prior to the bacteraemic episode: group 1 (n = 123) had long-term statin use ≥12 weeks, group 2 (n = 35) had short-term statin use <12 weeks, and group 3 (n = 161) had no statin use.

Results

The overall 30-day in-hospital all-cause mortality of patients with statins was lower than patients without statin therapy (13 vs. 24%, p = 0.001). The mortality rate in group 1 was lower than in group 2 (11 vs. 17%, p = 0.04). After adjusting for confounding variables, the results of a multiple Cox regression analysis revealed that the absence of statin use (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.98; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.59–5.56, p = 0.001) was associated with increased 30-day in-hospital all-cause mortality in bacteraemic patients.

Conclusions

Statins reduce the 30-day in-hospital all-cause mortality of bacteraemic patients. Long-term statin use prior to the bacteraemia improves the survival of bacteraemic patients more than short-term statin use.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Dr. Arieh Bomzon, Consulwrite (http://www.consulwrite.com) for his comments and editorial assistance in preparing this manuscript, and Nira Morag-Koren PhD Biostatistician and Epidemiologist, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, for her assistance in the statistical analysis.

Conflict of interest

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Unit of Infectious Diseases, Holy Family Hospital, P.O. Box 8, 16100, Nazareth, Israel

    W. Nseir & J. Khateeb

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Holy Family Hospital, Nazareth, Israel

    O. Abu-Elheja

  3. Unit of Infectious Diseases, Rabin Medical Center, Bellinson Hospital, Petach Tikva, Israel

    B. Jihad

  4. Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    B. Jihad

  5. Liver Unit, Ziv Medical Center, Safed, Israel

    N. Assy

  6. Faculty of Medicine, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

    N. Assy

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  1. W. Nseir
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  2. J. Khateeb
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  3. O. Abu-Elheja
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  4. B. Jihad
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  5. N. Assy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to W. Nseir.

Additional information

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s15010-011-0214-5.

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Nseir, W., Khateeb, J., Abu-Elheja, O. et al. The impact of prior long-term versus short-term statin use on the mortality of bacteraemic patients. Infection 40, 41–48 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-011-0190-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-011-0190-9

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