Highlights
- •Why did we undertake this study?
- •We aimed to investigate the possibility of a difference in the AF preventive effect of antidiabetic drugs through a national cohort-based real-world data analysis that classifies the entire adult population.
- •What is the specific question(s) we wanted to answer?
- •Which antidiabetic drugs are most effective in preventing AF?
- •What did we find?
- •The combination therapy of MET and TZD is the most effective antidiabetic drug for preventing AF in patients with type 2 diabetes.
- •What are the implications of our findings?
- •Through this study, real world evidence was prepared for the effective results of MET and TZD combination therapy, which is widely used in clinical practice, for AF.
Abstract
Background
Although diabetes is a risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF), studies on the AF
risk according to the antidiabetic drugs are lacking. This study evaluated the effects
of antidiabetic drugs on AF incidence in Korean patients with type 2 diabetes.
Methods
We included 2,515,468 patients with type 2 diabetes from the Korean National Insurance
Service database without a history of AF who underwent health check-ups between 2009
and 2012. Newly diagnosed AF incidence was recorded until December 2018 according
to the main antidiabetic drug combinations used in the real world.
Results
Of the patients included (mean age, 62 ± 11 years; 60 % men), 89,125 were newly diagnosed
with AF. Metformin (MET) alone (hazard ratio [HR] 0.959, 95 % CI 0.935–0.985) and
MET combination therapy (HR < 1) significantly decreased the risk of AF compared to
the no-medication group. The antidiabetic drugs consistently showing a protective
effect against AF incidence were MET (HR 0.977, 95 % CI 0.964–0.99) and thiazolidinedione
(TZD; HR 0.926, 95 % CI 0.898–0.956), even after adjusting for various factors. Moreover,
this protective effect was more remarkable with MET and TZD combination therapy (HR
0.802, 95 % CI 0.754–0.853) than with other drug combinations. In the subgroup analysis,
the preventive effect of MET and TZD treatment against AF remained consistent, regardless
of age, sex, duration, and diabetes severity.
Conclusion
The combination therapy of MET and TZD is the most effective antidiabetic drug for
preventing AF in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 16, 2023
Accepted:
March 13,
2023
Received in revised form:
March 8,
2023
Received:
December 6,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
