Published data suggest that statins might not be as effective in women as in men in decreasing cardiovascular events. This meta-analysis aimed to determine if there was such a gender based difference.

Researcher identified 18 randomized clinical trials of statins with sex-specific outcomes (n = 141,235, 40,275 women, 21,468 cardiovascular events) and noted the following findings:

• The cardiovascular event rate was lower among those randomised to statins than to control (low-dose statin 4 studies, placebo 11 studies, usual care 3 studies) and was similar in women and men (odds ratio: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.75 to 0.89; p < 0.0001, and 0.77, 0.71 to 0.83, p < 0.0001, respectively).

• The benefit of statins was statistically significant in both sexes, regardless of the type of control, baseline risk, or type of endpoint and in both primary and secondary prevention.

• All-cause mortality was also lower with statin therapy both in women and men without significant interaction by sex (p for interaction = 0.4457).

This meta-analysis found no gender difference in efficacy of statins in decreasing cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality.