Table 1 Baseline patient characteristics for different glucose-lowering agent groups after the matching algorithm

Number of subjects

1893

1893

1829

1829

1367

1367

Age at index date (years, mean ± SD)

49.48 ± 11.61

51.78 ± 12.19

49.34 ± 11.64

51.27 ± 11.82

49.38 ± 12.06

53.07 ± 13.67^a

Male at index date (%)

47.97

47.17

46.04

49.7

41.7

51.43

Diabetes duration^b (years, mean ± SD)

6.18 ± 2.74

6.46 ± 2.7

5.9 ± 2.82

6.32 ± 2.74

6.37 ± 2.75

6.33 ± 2.78

Comorbidity history (%)

 Hypertension

62.60

62.07

61.73

62.66

59.77

67.08

 Hyperlipidemia

70.79

71.05

70.42

70.59

69.42

70.37

 Stroke or transient ischemic attack

4.86

5.23

4.37

6.07

5.27

5.05

 Heart failure

2.85

3.49

2.19

3.17

3.58

3.44

 Myocardial infarction

1.53

1.06

1.20

1.53

1.32

2.19

 Ischemic heart diseases

12.20

11.62

12.3

13.83

13.90

14.26

CIC category (%)

 Cancer

4.07

5.65

4.48

5.14

5.34

5.78

 Gastrointestinal

27.63

26.62

25.48

26.46

26.63

30.43

 Musculoskeletal

32.70

34.28

33.13

32.31

34.67

35.70

 Pulmonary

7.82

8.45

7.27

8.37

7.39

11.49

 Substance abuse complexity

2.54

3.06

2.41

2.62

3.00

2.49

 Mental illness

8.51

8.82

8.75

10.5

10.02

10.02

Diabetes-related complications (%)

 Retinopathy

17.91

17.38

16.79

18.48

21.58

19.09

 Nephropathy

27.21

27.63

24.93

27.23

27.58

28.75

 Neuropathy

14.37

15.27

13.61

15.36

16.83

17.56

 Peripheral vascular diseases

4.75

4.54

4.54

4.81

4.90

5.78

 Cerebrovascular diseases

3.96

4.38

3.39

5.03

3.95

4.39

 Cardiovascular diseases

14.95

14.69

14.71

17.00

16.46

18.07

 Metabolic complications

0.85

2.17

1.04

1.48

2.56

2.71

 Number of glucose-lowering agents prescribed one year before index date

3.19

3.34

3.22

3.56

3.21

3.39

Glucose-lowering agents one year before index date (MPR, mean ± SD)^c

 Metformin

0.50 ± 0.43

0.50 ± 0.43

0.59 ± 0.41

0.59 ± 0.41

0.46 ± 0.43

0.46 ± 0.43

 Sulfonylurea

0.43 ± 0.43

0.43 ± 0.43

0.66 ± 0.37

0.67 ± 0.37

0.32 ± 0.41

0.32 ± 0.41

 Meglitinide

0.04 ± 0.18

0.04 ± 0.18

0.02 ± 0.10

0.02 ± 0.10

0.05 ± 0.19

0.05 ± 0.19

 Thiazolidinedione

0.12 ± 0.28

0.12 ± 0.28

0.13 ± 0.30

0.14 ± 0.30

0.08 ± 0.23

0.08 ± 0.23

 Acarbose

0.15 ± 0.31

0.15 ± 0.31

0.13 ± 0.29

0.13 ± 0.29

0.13 ± 0.28

0.13 ± 0.28

 DPP-4i

0.67 ± 0.34

0.67 ± 0.35

0.42 ± 0.42

0.42 ± 0.42

0.34 ± 0.40

0.34 ± 0.40

 Insulin

0.24 ± 0.38

0.24 ± 0.38

0.21 ± 0.36

0.21 ± 0.37

0.67 ± 0.36

0.67 ± 0.36

CVD-related medication history (%)

 Lipid-modifying agents

68.94

68.57

66.21

67.2

67.15

69.35

 α-Blockers

4.12

4.28

3.50

2.90

3.80

4.10

 β-Blockers

31.91

30.85

31.66

31.93

33.21

35.48

 Agents acting on RAAS

43.69

42.37

45.05

44.18

42.28

43.75

 Diuretics

18.28

18.01

20.01

20.07

21.36

18.36

 Calcium channel blockers

32.86

31.01

32.75

33.84

32.92

35.92

 Antiarrhythmics

1.37

1.85

1.31

1.91

1.32

2.12

 Cardiac glycosides

0.69

1.43

0.77

0.82

0.80

1.54

 Vasodilators used in cardiac diseases

8.19

9.67

7.93

9.51

9.73

10.31

 Anti-platelets

28.84

30.27

28.05

31.00

30.94

33.50

 Anti-coagulants

1.16

1.69

0.87

1.09

1.61

1.76