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Meta-Analysis
. 2016 Mar 28;11(3):e0152564.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152564. eCollection 2016.

Statin Use and the Risk of Parkinson's Disease: An Updated Meta-Analysis

Shuang Bai  1 , Yi Song  2 , Xin Huang  1 , Lidan Peng  1 , Jie Jia  3 , Yu Liu  1 , Hong Lu  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Statin Use and the Risk of Parkinson's Disease: An Updated Meta-Analysis

Shuang Bai et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Introduction: In response to the ongoing debate over the relationship between the use of statins and the risk of Parkinson's disease (PD), we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies to examine their association.

Methods: We conducted a review of the literature using electronic databases supplemented by a manual search to identify potentially relevant case-control or cohort studies. Summary relative risk (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were also conducted.

Results: Eleven studies (five case-control and six cohort) with a total of 3,513,209 participants and 21,011 PD cases were included. Statin use was associated with a lower risk of PD, with a summary RR of 0.81 (95% CI 0.71-0.92). Sensitivity analysis demonstrated the robustness of results. Subgroup analyses showed that neither study design nor study region significantly influenced the effect estimates. However, subgroup studies adjusted for age or sex had a greater inverse association than did unadjusted analyses (age-adjusted RR 0.75, 95% CI 0.60-0.95; age-unadjusted RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.75-0.99 and sex-adjusted RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.59-0.98; sex-unadjusted RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.79-0.92).

Conclusions: Results of this systematic review suggest that statin use is associated with a reduced PD risk. However, randomized controlled trials and more observational studies should be performed before strong conclusions are drawn.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Flow diagram representing the selection process.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Forest plot in overall analysis.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Begg's Funnel plot.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Forest plot in analysis of long-term statin use in relation to the risk of PD.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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