Table 1.
Characteristics of sulfonylurea users and metformin users among patients with type 2 diabetes
| Characteristic | Before matching | After matchinga | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metformin | Sulfonylurea | Standardized difference | Metformin | Sulfonylurea | Standardized difference | |
| Total | 77 138 | 17 612 | 13 999 | 13 999 | ||
| Age, y (mean, SD) | 63.1 (11.7) | 68.2 (12.5) | 0.43 | 67.1 (12.3) | 67.0 (12.4) | 0.01 |
| Male | 43 467 (56.4) | 10 121 (57.5) | 0.02 | 8025 (57.3) | 8040 (57.4) | 0.00 |
| Excessive alcohol use, n (%) | 2696 (3.5) | 509 (2.9) | 0.02 | 430 (3.1) | 416 (3.0) | 0.01 |
| Smoking status, n (%) | ||||||
| Ever | 46 168 (59.9) | 9107 (51.7) | 0.16 | 7646 (54.6) | 7537 (53.8) | 0.02 |
| Never | 29 617 (38.4) | 7262 (41.2) | 0.06 | 5581 (39.9) | 5674 (40.5) | 0.01 |
| Missing | 1353 (1.8) | 1243 (7.1) | 0.26 | 772 (5.5) | 788 (5.6) | 0.00 |
| Body mass index, n (%) | ||||||
| < 25.0 kg/m2 | 6646 (8.6) | 5110 (29.0) | 0.54 | 3232 (23.1) | 3228 (23.1) | 0.00 |
| 25.0–29.9 kg/m2 | 23 884 (31.0) | 6232 (35.4) | 0.09 | 5300 (37.9) | 5324 (38.0) | 0.00 |
| ≥ 30.0 kg/m2 | 43 485 (56.4) | 4159 (23.6) | 0.71 | 4043 (28.9) | 4002 (28.6) | 0.01 |
| Missing | 3123 (4.1) | 2111 (12.0) | 0.30 | 1424 (10.2) | 1445 (10.3) | 0.00 |
| Glycated haemoglobin (%), n (%) | ||||||
| ≤ 7 | 10 752 (14.0) | 1601 (9.1) | 0.16 | 1265 (9.1) | 1341 (9.6) | 0.02 |
| 7.1–8.0 | 19 464 (25.4) | 2563 (14.6) | 0.28 | 2298 (16.4) | 2275 (16.3) | 0.00 |
| > 8 | 27 903 (36.4) | 5799 (33.0) | 0.07 | 4971 (35.5) | 4904 (35.0) | 0.01 |
| Unknown | 18 516 (24.2) | 7631 (43.4) | 0.42 | 5465 (39.0) | 5479 (39.1) | 0.00 |
| Medical history, n (%) | ||||||
| HF | 3554 (4.6) | 1945 (11.0) | 0.24 | 1253 (8.9) | 1247 (8.9) | 0.00 |
| Hypertension | 48 652 (63.1) | 9884 (56.1) | 0.14 | 8126 (58.0) | 8117 (58.0) | 0.00 |
| Thyroid disease | 7689 (10.0) | 1527 (8.7) | 0.04 | 1224 (8.7) | 1262 (9.0) | 0.01 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 5534 (7.2) | 2009 (11.4) | 0.15 | 1452 (10.4) | 1442 (10.3) | 0.00 |
| Atrial fibrillation or flutter | 5884 (7.6) | 2314 (13.1) | 0.18 | 1678 (12.0) | 1634 (11.7) | 0.01 |
| Cancer | 8305 (10.8) | 2729 (15.5) | 0.14 | 2034 (14.5) | 2016 (14.4) | 0.00 |
| COPD | 9062 (11.8) | 2579 (14.6) | 0.09 | 1923 (13.7) | 1924 (13.7) | 0.00 |
| Coronary artery disease | 18 977 (24.6) | 5173 (29.4) | 0.11 | 3988 (28.5) | 3958 (28.3) | 0.00 |
| Hyperlipidaemia | 20 588 (26.7) | 3435 (19.5) | 0.17 | 2931 (20.9) | 2947 (21.0) | 0.01 |
| Previous coronary revascularization | 3265 (4.2) | 804 (4.6) | 0.02 | 641 (4.6) | 641 (4.6) | 0.00 |
| Previous MI | 5723 (7.4) | 1839 (10.4) | 0.11 | 1384 (9.9) | 1336 (9.5) | 0.01 |
| Previous stroke | 3890 (5.0) | 1357 (7.7) | 0.11 | 1016 (7.3) | 988 (7.1) | 0.01 |
| Drugs, n (%) | ||||||
| ACEi | 28 159 (36.5) | 5122 (29.1) | 0.16 | 4266 (30.5) | 4244 (30.3) | 0.00 |
| ARBs | 8688 (11.3) | 1216 (6.9) | 0.15 | 1098 (7.8) | 1064 (7.6) | 0.01 |
| Beta‐blockers | 19 343 (25.1) | 4401 (25.0) | 0.00 | 3681 (26.3) | 3612 (25.8) | 0.01 |
| Diuretics | 26 146 (33.9) | 6884 (39.1) | 0.11 | 5312 (37.9) | 5218 (37.3) | 0.01 |
| Digoxin | 2749 (3.6) | 1645 (9.3) | 0.24 | 1066 (7.6) | 1074 (7.7) | 0.01 |
| Statins | 43 436 (56.3) | 5881 (33.4) | 0.47 | 5231 (37.4) | 5239 (37.4) | 0.00 |
| Fibrates | 1293 (1.7) | 238 (1.4) | 0.03 | 202 (1.4) | 207 (1.5) | 0.00 |
| Clopidogrel | 2289 (3.0) | 546 (3.1) | 0.01 | 483 (3.5) | 460 (3.3) | 0.01 |
| Warfarin | 3561 (4.6) | 1306 (7.4) | 0.12 | 975 (7.0) | 976 (7.0) | 0.00 |
| Acetylsalicylic acid | 25 230 (32.7) | 5558 (31.6) | 0.02 | 4435 (31.7) | 4346 (31.1) | 0.01 |
| NSAIDs | 9105 (11.8) | 2192 (12.5) | 0.02 | 1782 (12.7) | 1770 (12.6) | 0.00 |
| Opioid analgesics | 22 413 (29.1) | 5337 (30.3) | 0.03 | 4203 (30.0) | 4146 (29.6) | 0.01 |
| Paracetamol | 24 571 (31.9) | 6052 (34.4) | 0.05 | 4746 (33.9) | 4682 (33.4) | 0.01 |
| Complications of diabetes, n (%) | ||||||
| Neuropathy | 5199 (6.7) | 676 (3.8) | 0.13 | 595 (4.3) | 599 (4.3) | 0.00 |
| Peripheral arterial or vascular disease | 2989 (3.9) | 1087 (6.2) | 0.11 | 791 (5.7) | 781 (5.6) | 0.00 |
| Renal disease | 6801 (8.8) | 2064 (11.7) | 0.10 | 1647 (11.8) | 1542 (11.0) | 0.02 |
| Retinal disorders | 9601 (12.5) | 1676 (9.5) | 0.09 | 1426 (10.2) | 1404 (10.0) | 0.01 |
| Number of unique nonantidiabetic medications (mean, SD) | 7.53 (5.58) | 7.99 (6.23) | 0.08 | 7.8 (6.1) | 7.8 (6.1) | 0.01 |
| 0, n (%) | 3518 (4.6) | 956 (5.4) | 0.04 | 779 (5.6) | 761 (5.4) | 0.01 |
| 1, n (%) | 4348 (5.6) | 1000 (5.7) | 0.00 | 799 (5.7) | 822 (5.9) | 0.01 |
| 2, n (%) | 5418 (7.0) | 1240 (7.0) | 0.00 | 984 (7.0) | 1023 (7.3) | 0.01 |
| 3, n (%) | 6190 (8.0) | 1418 (8.1) | 0.00 | 1128 (8.1) | 1144 (8.2) | 0.00 |
| 4+, n (%) | 57 664 (74.8) | 12 998 (73.8) | 0.02 | 10 309 (73.6) | 10 249 (73.2) | 0.01 |
| Number of hospitalization episodes of care (mean, SD) | 0.18 (0.56) | 0.47 (1.14) | 0.32 | 0.4 (0.8) | 0.4 (1.1) | 0.00 |
| 0, n (%) | 67 244 (87.2) | 12 616 (71.6) | 0.39 | 10 589 (75.6) | 10 695 (76.4) | 0.02 |
| 1, n (%) | 7512 (9.7) | 3251 (18.5) | 0.25 | 2379 (17.0) | 2272 (16.2) | 0.02 |
| 2, n (%) | 1623 (2.1) | 1039 (5.9) | 0.19 | 658 (4.7) | 636 (4.5) | 0.01 |
| 3, n (%) | 483 (0.6) | 383 (2.2) | 0.13 | 224 (1.6) | 239 (1.7) | 0.01 |
| 4+, n (%) | 276 (0.4) | 323 (1.8) | 0.14 | 149 (1.1) | 157 (1.1) | 0.01 |
ACEi, angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor; ARBs, angiotensin II receptor blockers; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; HF, heart failure; MI, myocardial infarction; NSAIDs, nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs; SD, standard deviation.
a
Patients characteristics described above are those of the matched analysis of myocardial infarction. Due to modest differences in the high‐dimensional propensity score distributions, minor differences exist between the characteristics of patients included in the analysis of myocardial infarction and those included in the analysis of other outcomes (Tables S2–S4).