Until now, it was unclear if statins – commonly prescribed for high cholesterol in people up to age 75 to lower heart attack and stroke risk – were effective in older people.
But last week, research from Monash University, published in The New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2026, in Munich, found that statin therapy actually decreased the risk of a first major cardiovascular event by 30% for independently-living adults older than 70.
The Statins in Reducing Events in the Elderly (STAREE) Trial is the first randomised controlled trial of statin therapy to examine whether the drugs could help older people who have historically been overlooked in clinical trials.
This landmark 10-year trial analysed the cardiovascular outcomes of nearly 10 000 participants while they took either a statin or a placebo.
Lead researcher Adjunct Professor Sophia Zoungas, from the Monash School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, said the findings will change how clinicians manage cardiovascular risk in older people.
“What we hope to see, now that we have provided such strong evidence, are updated treatment guidelines to help clinicians make use of this new finding,” she said.
The global prevalence of cardiovascular disease is expected to almost double from 600m in 2025 to more than 1bn in 2050.
Annually, an estimated 21 000 older Australians experience major cardiovascular events, like heart attacks and strokes. The risk increases with age, so over-70s are automatically in a high-risk category regardless of lifestyle or other factors.
Co-author Professor Mark Nelson, a prominent general practitioner, adjunct professor at the Monash School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine and research fellow at Menzies Institute for Medical Research at the University of Tasmania, said this is critical evidence to support GPs in their decision-making around cardiovascular health in older people.
“This was a particularly important trial because it was conducted in the community, with more than 3 400 GPs taking part across Australia,” he said.
The STAREE trial is one of the largest CVD prevention trials ever conducted in older people, placing Australia at the global forefront of healthy ageing research.
Study details
Atorvastatin, cardiovascular events, and disability-free survival in older adults
Sophia Zoungas, Rory Wolfe, Chris Moran et al.
Published in The New England Journal of Medicine on 28 August 2026
Abstract
Background
The effectiveness and safety of statins for the primary prevention of cardiovascular events and the extension of disability-free survival among older adults remain uncertain.
Methods
We conducted a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial at general medical practices across Australia. Community-dwelling adults at least 70 years of age with no history of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or dementia were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive atorvastatin at a dose of 40 mg once daily or identical placebo. The two primary end points were a composite of death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction or stroke, or coronary revascularization (to assess effects on major cardiovascular events) and a composite of death from any cause, dementia, or persistent physical disability (to assess effects on disability-free survival). Analyses were performed according to a hierarchical testing plan.
Results
A total of 9971 participants were enrolled: 4984 were assigned to receive atorvastatin and 4987 to receive placebo. The mean (±SD) age of the participants was 74.7±4.5 years, and 51.9% were women. After a median of 5.9 years, a primary cardiovascular event had occurred in 297 participants (10.9 events per 1000 person-years) in the atorvastatin group and in 412 participants (15.5 events per 1000 person-years) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61 to 0.82; P<0.001). Death from any cause, dementia, or persistent physical disability occurred in 637 participants (21.6 events per 1000 person-years) in the atorvastatin group and in 676 participants (23.0 events per 1000 person-years) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.84 to 1.05; P=0.25). Serious adverse events occurred in 131 participants (2.7%) in the atorvastatin group and in 129 (2.7%) in the placebo group, with musculoskeletal, hepatobiliary, and diabetes-related adverse events occurring more commonly in the atorvastatin group.
Conclusions
Treatment with atorvastatin led to a lower risk of major cardiovascular events than placebo at a median of 5.9 years but did not result in longer disability-free survival among community-dwelling older adults without clinical cardiovascular disease.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Statins don’t reduce CVD risk in healthy older people
Why statins are good for over-70s – Oxford study
Fewer people may need statins to prevent heart disease – US study