Comparative cardiovascular effectiveness of newer glucose-lowering drugs in elderly with type 2 diabetes: a target trial emulation cohort study.

BACKGROUND

Reducing risk of cardiovascular disease is crucial in managing type 2 diabetes (T2D). This study assessed the comparative cardiovascular effectiveness of newer glucose-lowering drugs in real-world elderly individuals with T2D, and examined how age modified these effects.

METHODS

We conducted a cohort study using Danish nationwide registries to emulate a three-arm randomized clinical trial. Participants aged ≥70 years were new users of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RAs), sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT-2is), or dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors (DPP-4is), between 2012 and 2020. We estimated the overall and age-specific incidence rate ratios (IRR) of 3-point major adverse cardiovascular events (3P-MACE) and hospitalization for heart failure (HHF) using Poisson regression models. Summarized weights were used to balance baseline characteristics and treatment adherence.

FINDINGS

The study included 35,679 participants (DPP-4is: 21,848 (62%), GLP1-RAs: 5702 (16%), SGLT-2is: 8129 (23%)). In the as-treated analysis, GLP1-RAs and SGLT-2is were associated with significantly reduced rates of 3P-MACE and HHF compared to DPP-4is. The overall IRR for 3P-MACE was 0.68 (95% CI 0.65-0.71) (GLP1-RAs vs. DPP4is) and 0.65 (95% CI 0.63-0.68) (SGLT-2is vs. DPP4is), while for HHF the IRR was 0.81 (95% CI 0.74-0.88) (GLP1-RAs vs. DPP4is) and 0.60 (95% CI 0.55-0.66) (SGLT-2is vs. DPP4is). These effects were predominantly independent of age. No significant difference was observed between SGLT-2is and GLP1-RAs on 3P-MACE, however, SGLT-2is were associated with a significant reduction of HHF, compared to GLP1-RAs, with an overall IRR of 0.75 (95% CI 0.67-0.83), and with age-dependent variations for both outcomes.

INTERPRETATION

In the elderly, use of GLP1-RAs and SGLT-2is was associated with reduced rates of 3P-MACE and HHF compared to DPP-4is, independent of age. SGLT-2is were also associated with reduced rates of HHF compared to GLP1-RAs, largely independent of age, in this population of individuals aged 70 years and above. This provides real-world evidence on the comparative cardiovascular effectiveness of the three most recent glucose-lowering medications and may help strengthen implementation of guidelines into clinical practice.

FUNDING

None.