Bottom Line: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adults ages 40 to 75 who have one or more CVD risk factors (i.e., dyslipidemia, diabetes, hypertension, or smoking), clinicians should prescribe a statin for those with an estimated 10-year CVD risk of 10% or greater and selectively offer a statin for those with an estimated risk of 7.5% to less than 10%. The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to make a recommendation about initiating a statin for the primary prevention of CVD events and mortality in adults age 76 or older. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, the cause of more than 1 of every 4 deaths. The USPSTF routinely makes recommendations about the effectiveness of preventive care services, and this recommendation replaces and is generally consistent with its 2016 recommendation.
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(doi:10.1001/jama.2022.13044)
