• Jose Miguel Ruiz Maldonado, Blanca Lumbreras, Hortensia Muñoz Jimenez, Jose Manuel Navarrete Carranza, Ignacio Anza Aguirrezabala, and Maria Pastor-Valero.
• Farmacia 334, Lorca, Murcia, España. Electronic address: jmmaldonados@gmail.com.
• Aten Primaria. 2015 May 1; 47 (5): 294300294-300.

BackgroundThe efficacy of statins to reduce LDL-cholesterol serum levels is high, but effectiveness is limited and costs are elevated.ObjectiveThe efficiency and effectiveness of prescriptions were analyzed in a pilot study in a community pharmacy.DesignA cross-sectional study.LocationCommunity pharmacy. Prescriptions from two Murcian Health Service Centers in Lorca, Murcia (Spain).ParticipantsA total of 141 patients and 32 general practitioners were included. The efficiency was analyzed in 141 and effectiveness in 110 patients.Main MeasurementsSocio-demographic characteristics and clinical history of patients and information about statin type and dosage were collected. Each patient was analyzed to determine the effectiveness of treatment according to cardiovascular risk and previous LDL-cholesterol level, and efficiency comparing the statin prescribed against other statins with equal pharmacological power.ResultsThe most prescribed statin was atorvastatin (57.4%). Almost two-thirds (63.9%) of prescriptions were inefficient, and 17.3% were ineffective. In a bivariate analysis, patients with previous cardiovascular events (8/38; 21% vs 41/103; 39.8%. P=.040) and smokers (42/114; 36.8% vs 4/23; 17.4%, P=.047) were more likely to receive an inefficient prescription than patients with no cardiovascular events and non-smokers. In a multivariate analysis, smokers were more likely to receive an inefficient prescription than non-smokers (OR ajusted 3.76; 95% CI;1.03-0.77, P=.012).ConclusionsMost of the participants reached therapeutic objectives for LDL-Cholesterol levels, but more than half of the prescriptions were considered inefficient.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

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