The prevalence of peripheral neuropathy is significantly higher among those who used statins. - GreenMedInfo Summary

BACKGROUND: Peripheral neuropathy is a serious complication of diabetes and several conditions that may lead to loss of lower extremity function and even amputations. Since their introduction, the use of statin drugs has increased dramatically. Recent reports suggest a role for statins in the development of peripheral neuropathy. Our aims in this study were to assess the association between statin use and peripheral neuropathy and to determine whether this association varied by diabetes status. METHOD: We used the lower extremity examination supplement in the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). RESULTS: Overall prevalence of statin use was 15%, and the prevalence of peripheral neuropathy was 14.9%. The prevalence of peripheral neuropathy was significantly higher among those who used statins compared to those who did not (23.5% vs. 13.5%; p<0.01). In multivariate logistic regression, statin use (Adj. OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1-1.6, Wald p-value 0.04) was significantly associated with peripheral neuropathy, controlling for diabetes status, age, gender, race, height, weight, blood lead levels, poverty, glycohemoglobin, use of vitamin B, alcohol abuse, hypertension, and non-HDL cholesterol. Diabetes status, age, gender, height, weight, blood lead levels, poverty, and glycohemoglobin were also significantly associated with peripheral neuropathy. We found no effect modification between statin use and diabetes status, race, gender, age, vitamin B12, blood lead levels, or alcohol abuse. CONCLUSIONS: In this cross-sectional study, we found a modest association between peripheral neuropathy and statin use. Prospective studies are required to determine the causal direction. Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.