RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The effect of statins on average survival in randomised trials, an analysis of end point postponement JF BMJ Open JO BMJ Open FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group SP e007118 DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-007118 VO 5 IS 9 A1 Malene Lopez Kristensen A1 Palle Mark Christensen A1 Jesper Hallas YR 2015 UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/9/e007118.abstract AB Objective To estimate the average postponement of death in statin trials.Setting A systematic literature review of all statin trials that presented all-cause survival curves for treated and untreated.Intervention Statin treatment compared to placebo.Primary outcome measures The average postponement of death as represented by the area between the survival curves.Results 6 studies for primary prevention and 5 for secondary prevention with a follow-up between 2.0 and 6.1 years were identified. Death was postponed between −5 and 19 days in primary prevention trials and between −10 and 27 days in secondary prevention trials. The median postponement of death for primary and secondary prevention trials were 3.2 and 4.1 days, respectively.Conclusions Statin treatment results in a surprisingly small average gain in overall survival within the trials’ running time. For patients whose life expectancy is limited or who have adverse effects of treatment, withholding statin therapy should be considered.