Who needs a statin? New Intermountain Health study compares prescribing recommendations based on traditional risk factors versus coronary artery calcium scoring
(PRUnderground) April 3rd, 2025
Intermountain Health researchers in Salt Lake City are studying the best method to screen and evaluate patients at risk of developing coronary heart disease and which would benefit most from statin medications to lower their cholesterol.
Currently, cardiologists determine a patient’s need for a statin medication based on traditional risk factors, which includes using the Pooled Cohort Equation (PCE) to determine their risk.
The PCE method calculates coronary risk by assessing risk factors of age, sex, total and HDL cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and whether someone has diabetes and is a smoker.
However, a new approach to determining risk and selecting a statin is the use of the coronary artery calcium (CAC) score, which is determined by taking a low-radiation dose image of the heart using computed tomography – a CT scan – to look for calcium deposits in plaques in the heart’s coronary arteries.
Which approach is more effective? The new study aims to find out.
“Our study is now fully enrolled with over 5,600 patients, and in this abstract, we wanted to look at baseline characteristics and differences in statin prescribing recommendations,” said Jeffrey L. Anderson, MD, co-principal investigator of the study and distinguished clinical and research physician at Intermountain Health.
“The question we want to answer is whether we can do a better job in selecting people who need a statin for primary coronary risk reduction by using the coronary artery calcium score, rather than just putting coronary risk factors into an equation,” said Dr. Anderson. “That is, is it more effective to use direct imaging to assess evidence of plaque burden or a risk probability equation? That’s what we’re aiming to find out.”
The new study was presented on March 29 at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Sessions meeting in Chicago.
The research is part of CorCal Outcomes, a large, randomized clinical trial at Intermountain Health that is comparing the PCE versus CAC score guidance to initiate a statin prescription for patients for primary prevention of coronary heart disease.
Since 2019, Intermountain heart researchers have enrolled 5,615 patients into the study, with patients having an average age of 64.1 years old, and 51.3% of the study subjects being women.
“This CorCal Outcomes study has been a systemwide, eight-year effort to complete enrollment,” said Dr. Anderson.
Intermountain patients at risk of coronary disease were invited to enroll in the study, and those agreeing to participate were randomized into two groups: those assessed using the PCE or those evaluated using their coronary artery calcium score.
Results of scoring by their assigned risk assessment tool were sent in letters to their personal physicians, including whether a statin was recommended based on a high-risk score.
Patients in the two groups in the study were found to have very similar baseline characteristics. However, researchers found that the rate of statin medication recommendations were different.
The study is expected to conclude in early 2026, at which time a comparison of outcomes, including deaths, heart attacks, strokes, and revascularizations during up to seven years, and an average of over four years, of follow-up will be made.
For the enrollment phase, researcher found a recommendation to start a statin was made much more often based on the PCE. In the PCE group, 50.7% of patients were recommended a statin, with another 21.7% to be considered for one. By contrast, in the CAC group, only 22.3% of patients were recommended a statin.
This large difference in statin recommendations appears to be explained by the strong influence of older age in recommending a statin by the PCE and, in contrast, the frequent finding of a zero or low CAC score in many older patients, leading to a no-statin recommendation in them.
Knowing which score is most effective is important, said Dr. Anderson, so that physicians can get statin medication to the right people, and not prescribe statins to those who don’t need it.
This is especially important considering that statins entail costs and can have side effects, including muscle aches and an increased risk of diabetes.
“We know there’s a huge difference in prescribing recommendations, and next year we are anxious to see the impact of these differences on outcomes,” said Dr. Anderson. “These findings can have a huge impact on how we practice preventive medicine in the future and how many and whom we put on a statin or other lipid-lowering drugs.”
About Intermountain Health
Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a not-for-profit system of 34 hospitals, approximately 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For up-to-date information and announcements, please see the Intermountain Health newsroom at https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.
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