The Study
Risk of new-onset diabetes across individual statins in secondary prevention: results from the Korean national health insurance service cohort
This study looked at people who were already taking statins for heart problems and noticed that some kinds of statins seemed to be linked with more people getting diabetes later. But it didn't randomly assign people to take different statins, so we can't be sure the statin itself caused the diabetes — maybe those people were already more likely to get diabetes for other reasons.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
Doctors give statins to people who had heart attacks or strokes to keep them healthy. But some statins might make it more likely for those people to get diabetes.
Where does this study sit?
Systematic Reviews & Meta-analyses
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control
Max 58Cross-Sectional
Max 44Case Reports & Series
Max 30Expert Opinion
Max 559 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — even though all statins protect the heart equally, some may increase diabetes risk more than others, which matters for people already at risk for diabetes.
- 2Out of 100 people on moderate statins, 41 got diabetes.
- 3Those on rosuvastatin, pravastatin, or simvastatin were 7% to 19% more likely to get diabetes than those on atorvastatin.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine
Year
2026
Authors
Eun Jin Park, Yoonjee Park, D. O. Kang, Soo-Jong Park, Seung-Young Roh, J. Na, Jin Won Kim, E. Kim, S. Rha, C. Park, Cheol Ung Choi
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.