Limitations
This study has several limitations. First, this is a study of US veterans who are predominantly male and White. As a result, our findings may not be generalizable to other populations. Second, there may be residual unmeasured confounding due to the nature of administrative claims data, despite the target trial emulation and propensity score methods. Third, we did not evaluate the per-protocol effect size for statin use after the initial prescription, although we have previously shown that most individuals prescribed a first statin continue to fill prescriptions for statins over time.