The Study
Addition of Ezetimibe to statins for patients at high cardiovascular risk: Systematic review of patient‐important outcomes
This study looked at many different experiments where people were randomly given either a new pill or just the old one, and then watched what happened to them over time. It found that the new pill might help a little with heart attacks, but not much else. It doesn't prove the pill fixes everything—it just shows a small possible benefit in some cases.
Analysis score
Maximum 100 for a systematic review with meta-analysis.
Where the score came from
This study looked at whether adding a second drug (ezetimibe) to statins helps prevent heart attacks and strokes in people already at high risk for heart disease.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 539 / 100
Quality score
The highest quality evidence. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses that pool randomized controlled trials, giving the most reliable summary of experimental evidence.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The reduction in heart attacks is small but real — it means 1 in 58 people might avoid a non-fatal heart attack.
- 2Stroke benefit is uncertain.
- 3No life-saving or major harm effects found.
- 4Over 6 years, for every 1,000 people: 17 fewer heart attacks and 6 fewer strokes happened when ezetimibe was added to statins.
- 5No difference in deaths, muscle problems, or cancer.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice
Year
2018
Authors
Y. Fei, G. Guyatt, P. Alexander, R. El Dib, R. Siemieniuk, P. Vandvik, M. Nunnally, Huda Gomaa, R. Morgan, A. Agarwal, Ying Zhang, N. Bhatnagar, F. Spencer
Related Content
Claims (6)
For people who have already had a heart attack or are at very high risk for one, taking statins lowers the number of future heart attacks, strokes, or other cardiovascular events.
For people at high risk of heart disease, adding ezetimibe to statin medication does not reduce the chance of dying from any cause or from cardiovascular disease over six years.
For people at high risk of heart disease, adding ezetimibe to statin medication does not result in more muscle-related side effects than taking statins alone.
Adding ezetimibe to statin therapy in people at high risk for heart disease does not change the likelihood of developing cancer over six years.
For people at high risk of heart disease, adding ezetimibe to statin therapy results in 17 fewer non-fatal heart attacks per 1,000 patients over six years compared to statin therapy alone.
In people at high risk for heart disease, adding ezetimibe to statin therapy results in 6 fewer non-fatal strokes per 1,000 patients over six years, though the reliability of this estimate is low.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.