Understanding the potential harms of statins to refine primary prevention treatment for cardiovascular disease: causal inference study and risk prediction modelling using data from electronic health records and previous trials (Miss Ting Cai)
Statins are cholesterol-lowering drugs that prevent heart attack and stroke. However, some people may experience side effects when taking them such as muscle pain, liver injury and diabetes, which can stop some people from taking them. This project aims to determine whether these side effects are truly linked to statins. Dr James Sheppard’s team will compare previous clinical trials testing statins and will perform something called a ‘network meta-analysis’. This will produce a ranked list of each type of statin and dose levels based on their effectiveness and side-effects. Dr Sheppard will also compare the GP health records of statin users and non-users between 1998 and 2019 to look for evidence of new muscle symptoms, new-onset diabetes, liver injury, renal dysfunction, haemorrhagic stroke and eye diseases. The data from the trials will be used to generate risk prediction models for statins with patient characteristics as predictors. These will then be cross-checked with the data from patient records. The goal is to create risk calculators that doctors can use to estimate a person’s risk of side effects from statins. This will allow doctors and their patients to make a shared decision about whether to start, stop, or continue statin treatment.
Project details
| Grant amount | £99,233 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Fellowships |
| Application type | PhD Studentship |
| Start Date | 01 October 2019 |
| Duration | 3 years |
| Reference | FS/19/13/34235 |
| Status | In Progress |
