Chronic Kidney Disease and Statin Eligibility Gloria Lena Vega, PhD*, Jijia Wang, PhD, Scott M. Grundy, MD, PhD*

BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). American cardiovascular societies consider CKD a risk-enhancing factor that supports statin therapy in intermediate-risk patients aged 40-75 years. In contrast, European cardiovascular societies recommend statins for all middle-aged adults with CKD. The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes lipid management guideline for CKD recommends statin therapy for all patients with CKD > 50 years. Clinical implications for these differences have not been examined. OBJECTIVE: This study examines CKD prevalence and statin eligibility in non-ASCVD adults, representative of the US population, at 3 levels of 10-year risk of ASCVD estimated by pooled cohort equations. METHODS: National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 1999-2016 weighted data were evaluated for CKD defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2. Overall prevalence of low, intermediate, and high 10-year risk for ASCVD was determined. RESULTS: A total of 92.5% of all participants had estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 60 mL/ min/1.73 m2; 7.5% (confidence interval 6.9%, 8.1%) had CKD. Among participants with CKD, 46.3% had 10-year risk for ASCVD < 7.5% (low risk); 31.7% had intermediate risk (7.5-< 20%), and 22.0% had high risk (> 20%). In participants with CKD, 62.5% were women. A total of 19.6% of all participants with CKD had diabetes. A total of 46.3% of participants with CKD at intermediate or high risk reported taking cholesterol-lowering drugs. CONCLUSION: A total of 46.3% of patients with CKD aged 40?75 years had 10-year risk < 7.5% (low risk) and hence were statin eligible by European and Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (> 50 years) guidelines. US cardiovascular guidelines limit statin eligibility to intermediateand high-risk CKD. Statin eligibility in lower-risk patients may be best determined by measuring coronary artery calcium. (c) 2020 National Lipid Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).