Statin users suffer from significantly more musculoskeletal pain

This study was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine 2008 Aug;23(8):1182-6

Study title and authors:
Prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and statin use.

Buettner C, Davis RB, Leveille SG, Mittleman MA, Mukamal KJ.
Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA. cbuettne@bidmc.harvard.edu

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18449611

This study sought to evaluate whether statin use was associated with a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal pain. The study included 3,580 participants, aged 40 or over, without arthritis.

The study found:
(a) Compared to persons who did not use statins, those who used statins had a 50% increased risk for any musculoskeletal pain.
(b) Compared to persons who did not use statins, those who used statins had a 59% increased risk for lower back pain.
(c) Compared to persons who did not use statins, those who used statins had a 50% increased risk for lower extremity pain.

This study finds that statin users are significantly more likely to report musculoskeletal pain compared to persons who did not use statins.