Statin discontinuation and mortality in an older adult population with traumatic brain injury: A four-year, multi-centre, observational cohort study

Abstract Introduction Statin discontinuation has been investigated in a wide range of diseases and injuries, but there is a paucity of data in the older adult population with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The purpose of this study was to re-examine the extent to which early discontinuation of pre-injury statin (PIS) therapy increases the risk of poor patient outcomes in older adult patients suffering a TBI. Methods This was a retrospective observational cohort study of adult trauma patients with a blunt TBI across three trauma centres over four years. Patients were excluded because of no PIS use, age 1 week (continuation = 29% vs. discontinuation = 36%, p = 0.19). Conclusion We did not observe a significantly increased odds of in-hospital mortality following PIS discontinuation, compared to PIS continuation, in an older adult population with TBI. It remains to be seen whether statin discontinuation is a proxy variable for injury severity, or whether it exerts deleterious effects after injury.