Comparative Risk of Stroke Associated with GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and SGLT2 Inhibitors in Veterans with Type 2 Diabetes
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Introduction
Stroke is a leading cause of disability and death in adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D). We evaluated the comparative stroke risk in Veterans with T2D initiated on either of two glucose-lowering medications: GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) or SGLT-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i).
Patients and Methods
We conducted a retrospective cohort study on diabetic Veterans aged 40 and older with no prior history of stroke or transient ischemic attack, who started on a GLP-1RA or SGLT2i between 2014 and 2021. Patients with contraindications or prior exposure to medication were excluded. Using national Veteran health data, we identified 195,072 eligible individuals and followed them from treatment initiation until stroke, death, loss to follow up, or end of follow up, whichever came first. Primary outcome was incident stroke, and secondary outcomes included ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. We applied Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox proportional hazards models. Adjusted associations were estimated using inverse probability weighting.
Results
Both unadjusted and adjusted analyses suggest GLP-1RA users have reduced stroke incidence compared SGLT-2i users (HR = 0.67, 95%CI 0.64-0.69;HR = 0.72, 95%CI 0.69-0.75). Similar results were found in secondary outcome and stratified analyses, with GLP-1RA users having reduced stroke risk compared to SGLT2i users for all age groups, chronic kidney disease stages, and hemoglobin A1c levels.
Discussion and Conclusion
GLP-1RA treatment was associated with a lower risk of stroke compared with SGLT2i treatment in Veterans with T2D. These findings were consistent for ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, suggesting potential differences in stroke risk between the treatments.
