Background: the recent lessening of PBS restrictions on prescribing GLP-1 analogues (GLP1an) and SGLT-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) in type 2 diabetes (T2D) has seen a proliferation of use of these relatively new players as add on therapies; clinicians are confronted daily with the conundrum of deciding which of the 2 classes to add first, to maximise patient benefit
Aim: To compare the efficacy and durability of SGLT2i with GLP1an
Method: De-identified data of patients with T2D seen in the 4 year period May 2013 - May 2017 were aggregated from the electronic medical record of endocrinologists using Audit4 (Software 4 Specialists, Australia & NZ). We compared responses to initiation of the 2 classes in respect of HbA1c and weight, and drug duration (start to cease) using Kaplan Meier analysis
Results: Out of a cohort of 5101 patients, 10.8 % had ever started a GLP1an and 15.7 % an SGLT2i.
Summary: SGLT2i and GLP1an both significantly reduced weight and HbA1c, SGLT2i having superior weight loss efficacy in the first 18 months, but comparable HbA1c effects; median duration of use of GLP1an was 1.5 years, 0.6 years shorter than SGLT2i
Conclusion: Our data suggests that in real-life conditions, addition of an SGLT2 inhibitor may be an overall more effective and durable treatment than addition of a GLP-1 analogue