Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were eligible for inclusion.
Specific interventions included in the review
Studies of pharmacologic lipid-lowering therapies were eligible for inclusion. The treatments included in the review were lovastatin, pravastatin, gemfibrozil, simvastatin, atorvastatin and fluvastatin; all of which had varied doses. Most of the studies compared the lipid-lowering drug with placebo.
Participants included in the review
Studies of patients with diabetes were eligible.
Outcomes assessed in the review
Studies that measured total mortality and major cardiovascular events, such as cardiovascular mortality, myocardial infarction and stroke, were eligible. Only the reported primary outcome in the studies was included in the review.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The authors did not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many reviewers performed the selection.