Comparing medication persistence among patients with type 2 diabetes using sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors or glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists in real-world setting

Aim: To assess and compare the persistence with drug therapy between patients treated with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RA) and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2-I) therapy. Methods: The 126,493 residents of the Lombardy Region (Italy) aged ≥ 40 years newly treated with metformin during 2007–2015 were followed until 2017 to identify those who started therapy with GLP1-RA or SGLT2-I. To make GLP1-RA and SGLT2-I users more comparable, a 1:1 matched cohort design was adopted. Matching variables were sex, age, and adherence to the first-line therapy with metformin. Log-binomial regression models were fitted to estimate the propensity to 1-year treatment persistence in relation to the therapeutic strategy. Results: The final matched cohort was composed by 1,276 GLP1-RA─SGLT2-I pairs. About 24% and 29% of cohort members respectively on GLP1-RA and SGLT2-I discontinued the drug treatment. Compared with patients starting SGLT2-I, those on GLP1-RA had 15% (95% confidence interval, 3–25%) lower risk of discontinuation of the treatments of interest and 45% (28–57%) lower risk of discontinuing any antidiabetic drug therapy. Persistence was better among GLP1-RA users who received a once-weekly administration. Conclusions: In a real-life setting, patients who were prescribed a GLP1-RA exhibited more frequently better persistence to treatment than those prescribed a SGLT2-I therapy.