Longitudinal follow-up study of the association between statin use and chronic periodontitis using national health screening cohort of Korean population

Since a potential link between statins and the risk of adverse chronic periodontitis (CP) has been raised, we aimed to validate the association between statin use and the incidence of CP using nationwide cohort data. This longitudinal follow-up study included 169,381 patients prescribed statins who were matched with an equal number of controls using propensity scores from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort database (2002-2015). A Cox proportional hazard model was used to assess the occurrence of CP following statin use after adjusting for multiple covariates. The occurrence of CP was significantly higher in patients who had long-term use (1-3 years, 3-5 years, or > 5 years) than with short-term use (<= 1 year) of statins. After adjustment, statin users exhibited an occurrence of CP 1.32-fold higher (95% confidence interval 1.30-1.33) than that of the matched nonusers (incidence: 25.0 and 22.0 per 100 person-years, respectively). Subgroup analyses supported the adverse impact of statins on CP independent of age and gender. Statin user odds ratios for developing CP were higher compared to those of nonusers. This was consistent in individuals aged > 40 years in both genders, especially with long-term use.

Automated summary

This study aimed to validate the association between statin use and the incidence of chronic periodontitis (CP) using nationwide cohort data. The results showed that patients who had long-term use of statins had a significantly higher risk of CP compared to those with short-term use, and this adverse impact was independent of age and gender.