Statins, cholesterol and cognition at the time of Alzheimer's disease diagnosis: A cross-sectional study from the Swedish registry for cognitive/dementia disorders.

BACKGROUND

Evidence suggests statins may influence cognition in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but specific use patterns in AD patients remain unclear.

OBJECTIVE

To identify factors influencing statin use in AD and explore associations between statins, cholesterol, and cognition, evaluated with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) at dementia diagnosis.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study using data from the Swedish Registry for Dementia and Cognitive Disorders (SveDem) and Stockholm Creatinine Measurements (SCREAM) from 2007 to 2018. Multivariable logistic regression examined associations between baseline characteristics and statin use, while linear regression analyzed relationships between statins, cholesterol levels, and MMSE scores.

RESULTS

We included 3074 AD patients (mean age 78.1 years; 59.4% women), of whom 1028 used statins (79.6% simvastatin, 20.4% atorvastatin). Patients with diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, or stroke had greater odds of receiving statins. Older patients had slightly lower odds of receiving any statin at baseline (simvastatin use OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.97-0.99). Simvastatin users had 0.53 points higher MMSE on average at baseline compared to non-users of statins (se 0.23, p = 0.021). Higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol (TC) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were associated with higher MMSE in non-users of statins, but not in statin users.

CONCLUSIONS

Younger AD patients and those with cardiovascular disease were more likely to use statins. Simvastatin use was linked to higher cognitive scores at diagnosis. In non-users, higher LDL-C, TC, and HDL-C levels correlated with better baseline cognitive scores. Longitudinal studies are needed to investigate the effects of statins on cognitive decline in AD.