Table 1, Panel A.
Characteristics of monotherapy new users of sulfonylureas vs. metformin
| Metformin N=489,979 |
glimepiride N=50,022 |
glipizide N=149,949 |
glyburide N=109,681 |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person-years of follow-up | 122,694 | 12,510 | 36,279 | 26,277 | |||||||
| Outcomes within 180 days of cohort entry | 1,557 | 714 | 1,789 | 1,834 | |||||||
| Average daily dose (milligrams/day) | Median (Q1–Q3) | 1,000 (1,000–2,000) | 4.0 (2.0–8.0) | 10.0 (5.0–20.0) | 10.0 (5.0–15.0) | ||||||
| Mode | 1,000 | 4.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | |||||||
| Demographics | Group | %* | %* | SMD | WCSD | %* | SMD | WCSD | %* | SMD | WCSD |
| Age at cohort entry, continuous, in years** | Median (Q1–Q3) | 55.6 (43.7–68.5) | 66.5 (52.7–76.5) | 0.53 | 0.19 | 64.2 (50.4–75.2) | 0.43 | 0.15 | 64.4 (50.4–75.2) | 0.43 | 0.11 |
| Sex** | Female | 65.7 | 62.2 | 0.07 | 0.11 | 60.7 | 0.10 | 0.08 | 60.5 | 0.11 | 0.06 |
| Race** | White | 39.4 | 44.7 | 0.11 | 0.19 | 36.7 | 0.05 | 0.16 | 36.9 | 0.05 | 0.12 |
| Black | 16.4 | 13.1 | 0.10 | 0.11 | 18.8 | 0.06 | 0.11 | 16.4 | 0.00 | 0.09 | |
| Hispanic/Latino | 21.2 | 15.8 | 0.14 | 0.07 | 22.0 | 0.02 | 0.12 | 22.5 | 0.03 | 0.07 | |
| Other/Unknown | 23.0 | 26.4 | 0.08 | 0.16 | 22.5 | 0.01 | 0.09 | 24.2 | 0.03 | 0.08 | |
| State of residence** | CA | 43.0 | 38.6 | 0.09 | 0.04 | 42.0 | 0.02 | 0.04 | 52.5 | 0.19 | 0.03 |
| FL | 11.2 | 11.9 | 0.02 | 0.07 | 15.5 | 0.13 | 0.08 | 10.7 | 0.02 | 0.06 | |
| NY | 29.5 | 27.3 | 0.05 | 0.16 | 26.6 | 0.07 | 0.12 | 23.4 | 0.14 | 0.12 | |
| OH | 9.2 | 12.9 | 0.12 | 0.07 | 7.1 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 7.5 | 0.06 | 0.07 | |
| PA | 7.1 | 9.4 | 0.08 | 0.04 | 8.9 | 0.07 | 0.05 | 6.0 | 0.04 | 0.03 | |
| Calendar year of cohort entry† | 1999–2001 | 10.8 | 21.0 | 0.28 | 0.27 | 26.6 | 0.41 | 0.41 | 32.1 | 0.54 | 0.51 |
| 2002 | 5.6 | 8.9 | 0.13 | 0.12 | 10.2 | 0.17 | 0.16 | 10.9 | 0.19 | 0.17 | |
| 2003 | 6.4 | 9.2 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 9.0 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 9.4 | 0.11 | 0.10 | |
| 2004 | 6.7 | 8.3 | 0.06 | 0.06 | 7.4 | 0.03 | 0.04 | 7.8 | 0.04 | 0.04 | |
| 2005 | 8.8 | 8.9 | 0.01 | 0.04 | 8.4 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 8.2 | 0.02 | 0.03 | |
| 2006 | 12.6 | 12.6 | 0.00 | 0.05 | 14.6 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 13.0 | 0.01 | 0.06 | |
| 2007 | 10.3 | 7.9 | 0.08 | 0.11 | 6.8 | 0.12 | 0.14 | 5.7 | 0.17 | 0.17 | |
| 2008 | 10.4 | 7.2 | 0.11 | 0.14 | 5.6 | 0.18 | 0.21 | 4.4 | 0.23 | 0.25 | |
| 2009 | 13.2 | 8.2 | 0.16 | 0.22 | 6.1 | 0.24 | 0.30 | 4.3 | 0.32 | 0.36 | |
| 2010 | 15.1 | 7.8 | 0.23 | 0.28 | 5.2 | 0.33 | 0.39 | 4.2 | 0.38 | 0.41 | |
| Co-coverage by Medicare** | Yes | 46.5 | 63.5 | 0.35 | 0.10 | 58.7 | 0.25 | 0.10 | 57.2 | 0.22 | 0.10 |
| Healthcare utilization covariates in baseline period** | Group | %* | %* | SMD | WCSD | %* | SMD* | WCSD | %* | SMD | WCSD |
| Nursing home residence, ever | Yes | 4.1 | 10.0 | 0.23 | 0.23 | 11.6 | 0.28 | 0.05 | 9.8 | 0.22 | 0.03 |
| # Hospitalizations (continuous) | Median (Q1–Q3) | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | 0.22 | 0.22 | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | 0.26 | 0.07 | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | 0.23 | 0.08 |
| # Unique drugs dispensed (continuous) | Median (Q1–Q3) | 6.0 (2.0–10.0) | 7.0 (2.0–12.0) | 0.17 | 0.17 | 5.0 (1.0–10.0) | 0.05 | 0.15 | 5.0 (1.0–10.0) | 0.10 | 0.17 |
| # Ambulatory care visits without a hypoglycemia diagnosis (continuous) | Median (Q1–Q3) | 4.0 (1.0–10.0) | 5.0 (2.0–11.0) | 0.07 | 0.07 | 4.0 (1.0–10.0) | 0.04 | 0.12 | 4.0 (1.0–9.0) | 0.06 | 0.11 |
| Diseases in baseline period** | Group | % | % | SMD | WCSD | % | SMD | WCSD | % | SMD | WCSD |
| Alcohol abuse | Yes | 1.9 | 2.2 | 0.02 | 0.04 | 2.7 | 0.06 | 0.04 | 2.6 | 0.05 | 0.03 |
| Cancer | Yes | 5.1 | 8.5 | 0.14 | 0.04 | 7.6 | 0.10 | 0.03 | 7.4 | 0.09 | 0.03 |
| Dementia | Yes | 2.2 | 5.6 | 0.17 | 0.03 | 5.7 | 0.18 | 0.04 | 4.8 | 0.14 | 0.03 |
| Hypoglycemia, ambulatory care visit | Yes | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 1.0 | 0.01 | 0.03 | 0.9 | 0.00 | 0.03 |
| Hypoglycemia, serious | Yes | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.9 | 0.05 | 0.02 | 0.9 | 0.06 | 0.02 |
| Kidney diseases | Yes | 5.3 | 14.5 | 0.31 | 0.04 | 13.8 | 0.29 | 0.07 | 10.9 | 0.21 | 0.06 |
| Liver diseases | Yes | 6.4 | 9.6 | 0.12 | 0.08 | 8.2 | 0.07 | 0.04 | 7.9 | 0.06 | 0.04 |
| Obesity | Yes | 10.0 | 5.9 | 0.16 | 0.09 | 5.4 | 0.17 | 0.08 | 4.7 | 0.20 | 0.08 |
| Drugs that can affect blood glucose, in 7 days prior to cohort entry** | Group | % | % | SMD | WCSD | % | SMD | WCSD | % | SMD | WCSD |
| Co-trimoxazole | Yes | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.00 | 0.02 | 0.5 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.5 | 0.01 | 0.02 |
| Quinolones | Yes | 0.8 | 1.4 | 0.05 | 0.03 | 1.2 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 1.1 | 0.02 | 0.01 |
| Drugs that can affect blood glucose, in 30 days prior to cohort entry** | Group | % | % | SMD | WCSD | % | SMD | WCSD | % | SMD | WCSD |
| Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors | Yes | 11.3 | 11.7 | 0.01 | 0.04 | 11.2 | 0.00 | 0.04 | 10.7 | 0.02 | 0.04 |
| Angiotensin II receptor antagonists | Yes | 4.0 | 5.4 | 0.07 | 0.06 | 3.4 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 3.0 | 0.05 | 0.03 |
| Antipsychotics, atypical | Yes | 8.4 | 6.5 | 0.07 | 0.06 | 6.6 | 0.07 | 0.07 | 5.8 | 0.10 | 0.07 |
| Beta blockers | Yes | 13.2 | 15.9 | 0.08 | 0.12 | 13.0 | 0.01 | 0.07 | 11.4 | 0.06 | 0.07 |
| Calcineurin inhibitors | Yes | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 0.5 | 0.08 | 0.01 | 0.3 | 0.05 | 0.01 |
| Corticosteroids | Yes | 3.1 | 4.7 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 4.4 | 0.07 | 0.07 | 4.1 | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| Diuretics, thiazide | Yes | 6.3 | 4.4 | 0.08 | 0.03 | 4.3 | 0.09 | 0.03 | 3.9 | 0.11 | 0.04 |
| Haloperidol | Yes | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.5 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 0.5 | 0.00 | 0.01 |
| Protease inhibitors | Yes | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.6 | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0.6 | 0.02 | 0.00 |
| Quinine | Yes | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 0.4 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.5 | 0.04 | 0.01 |
| Salicylates | Yes | 4.1 | 4.7 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 3.9 | 0.01 | 0.04 | 3.8 | 0.01 | 0.03 |
Q = quartile; SMD = standardized mean difference (vs. metformin); WCSD = weighted conditional standardized difference (vs. metformin)
*
unless otherwise noted
**
included in propensity score
†
included as a covariate in Cox proportional hazards model