The percentage of adults who have had a heart attack or have diabetes and regularly take statins — a medication used to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk for future cardiovascular events — has increased modestly in the United States. However, the percentage of adults who take statins regularly without a history of heart attack or diabetes has remained the same.

A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that, while several interventions to improve the use of cholesterol-lowering medications have been implemented in the last decade, the percentage of adults taking statins regularly still remains low. The study conducted by researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham investigated more than 3 million adults from across the United States, using data recorded between 2007 and 2014.