Comparative Effectiveness and Safety of Moderate-Intensity Pravastatin Versus Atorvastatin in Patients with Dyslipidemia: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using a Common Data Model of Multicenter Electronic Health Records in South Korea

Abstract

Aim: To compare the effectiveness and safety of moderate-intensity pravastatin 40 mg/day and atorvastatin 10 mg/day in patients with dyslipidemia.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using electronic health records of 19 million patients across 14 secondary/tertiary hospitals, standardized to a Common Data Model. New users of pravastatin (40 mg/day) and atorvastatin (10 mg/day) were identified. Six distinct cohorts were used to assess the comparative effectiveness in preventing major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and the risks of new-onset diabetes mellitus (NODM), myalgia or rhabdomyolysis, and hepatotoxicity (measured by aspartate aminotransferase [AST]/alanine aminotransferase [ALT]). Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to each cohort for effectiveness and safety analyses, followed by a meta-analysis of hospital-specific results.

Results: After PSM, patients were equally assigned to the pravastatin and atorvastatin groups for primary (n = 2,688/group) and secondary MACE prevention (n = 1,258/group) and to assess the risk of NODM (n = 2,391/group), new-onset myalgia or rhabdomyolysis (n = 11,799/group), and hepatotoxicity (AST, n = 4,034/group; ALT, n = 3,655/group). No significant differences were observed in the hazard ratios (HRs) for primary (HR = 0.84; 95% CI, 0.59-1.20) and secondary MACE prevention (HR = 0.89; 95% CI, 0.68-1.16). Similarly, no significant difference was observed in the risk of NODM (HR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.79-1.23). The risk of new-onset myalgia/rhabdomyolysis (HR = 0.82, 95% CI, 0.69-0.96) and the incidence of abnormal elevations in AST levels (2.35% vs. 3.37%, p＜0.05) were significantly lower in the pravastatin group.

Conclusion: Moderate-intensity pravastatin (40 mg/day) showed comparable effectiveness to moderate-intensity atorvastatin (10 mg/day) in preventing MACE with a more favorable safety profile.