A European, observational, three-year cohort comparative study on the
safety of the fixed dose combination pravastatin 40 mg/ fenofibrate 160
mg versus statin alone in real clinical practice. The POSE study.
Abstract
Background and purpose: The aim of the study was to provide
valuable real-world long-term safety data of the fixed pravastatin 40
mg/fenofibrate 160 mg combination in comparison of monotherapy with
statins of moderate intensity. Materials and methods: POSE
study was an observational, comparative study conducted in three
European countries. Patients treated or planned to be treated with
pravastatin 40 mg/fenofibrate 160 mg or with a moderate-intensity statin
in monotherapy were assessed over 3 years. The main safety endpoints
included the incidence of renal or urinary disorder, musculoskeletal or
connective tissue disorder, hepatobiliary disorder and cardiovascular
events. Results: The study included 3075 patients treated for
dyslipidemia, with diabetes mellitus (47%), hypertension (56%) and/or
established cardiovascular disease (61%). Over the three years of
follow-up, the incidence of each safety event was low (≤3%) and similar
in both treatment groups. The most frequently occurring events were;
musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders (44 events in the
pravastatin 40 mg/fenofibrate 160 mg group and 36 in the statin group),
renal and urinary disorders (28 versus 24), and aggravated diabetes
mellitus (31 versus 21). Most events occurred during the first year,
then incidence decreased over the three-year period. The incidence of
cardiovascular events was low in both groups (≤1.6%), with no new
signal emerged from the long-term follow-up. Conclusions: This
study demonstrates a reassuring long-term safety profile of the fixed
pravastatin 40 mg/fenofibrate 160 mg combination in routine clinical
practice, with low and similar incidence of events over the three years
follow-up compared to a monotherapy with statins of moderate intensity.