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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 May 1.
Published in final edited form as: Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2022 Jan 17;31(5):566–576. doi: 10.1002/pds.5406

Table 1.

Patient characteristics and standardized differences at the time of first-line SGLT-2i and metformin initiation (2013–2019). Values are percentage (%) unless otherwise specified.

Apr2013-Dec2014 Jan2015-Jun2016 Jul2016-Dec2017 Jan2018-Dec2019 Linear trend (P)
SGLT-2i (n=1,875) Metformin (n=271,143) SD SGLT2-i (n=2,765) Metformin (n=228,142) SD SGLT2-i (n=2,390) Metformin (n=173,647) SD SGLT2-i (n=2,083) Metformin (n=137,416) SD
Baseline characteristics
Demographics
Age (mean, std.dev) 57.53 (9.04) 64.14 (9.58) −0.24 59.77 (8.92) 64.21 (9.52) −0.20 60.58 (9.29) 62.64 (10.11) −0.15 62.13 (10.57) 62.24 (10.73) −0.01 0.040
Gender (Male) 49.17 48.75 0.02 51.97 49.51 0.06 50.84 50.95 0.00 56.60 52.75 0.08 0.592
Region*
 Northeast 18.24 16.65 0.07 19.39 17.66 0.05 16.82 16.19 0.02 16.56 14.75 0.05 0.387
 South 52.37 41.98 0.14 53.16 43.96 0.14 53.97 46.40 0.13 49.35 45.58 0.07 0.204
 Midwest 17.28 23.21 −0.13 14.79 21.11 −0.17 15.73 20.70 −0.14 18.10 21.34 −0.08 0.342
 West 12.11 18.16 −0.12 12.66 17.28 −0.09 13.47 16.71 −0.08 15.99 18.34 −0.07 0.067
Medicare Advantage 9.96 25.41 −0.40 13.74 26.32 −0.26 19.58 27.10 −0.17 35.42 36.13 −0.02 0.005
Race (White) 79.22 77.36 0.08 76.18 75.70 0.04 72.09 72.07 0.02 63.57 63.71 0.00 0.020
Life-style risk factors
Obesity or Overweight 27.95 23.22 0.12 35.37 31.33 0.10 43.14 40.41 0.05 48.73 48.36 0.01 0.006
Smoking 8.05 12.55 −0.06 12.30 15.25 −0.04 15.86 17.55 −0.03 20.16 20.05 0.00 0.040
Comorbidities
Diabetic Nephropathy 2.40 1.74 0.09 3.47 2.69 0.07 5.65 4.12 0.08 9.07 5.31 0.14 0.315
Diabetic Neuropathy 7.36 4.23 0.22 7.85 5.13 0.14 8.62 5.90 0.12 11.09 6.24 0.17 0.499
Diabetic Retinopathy 2.03 1.11 0.10 2.03 1.09 0.09 1.17 1.02 0.02 3.65 1.43 0.14 0.892
CVD** 21.65 28.23 0.04 25.61 28.16 0.04 28.66 26.43 0.09 37.01 26.01 0.25 0.114
Hyperlipidemia 73.01 73.20 0.12 73.74 72.62 0.09 68.87 66.57 0.08 73.50 70.15 0.07 0.055
Hypertension 68.05 71.45 0.08 73.82 73.22 0.10 73.47 71.68 0.07 76.62 70.97 0.13 0.431
CKD 3.79 4.95 0.03 6.55 6.05 0.07 7.82 6.53 0.06 11.67 7.46 0.13 0.095
COPD 6.93 10.24 −0.02 7.92 10.22 −0.03 9.37 9.47 0.01 10.32 9.82 0.01 0.212
History of Malignant Neoplasm 7.04 10.14 −0.02 8.93 10.23 0.01 8.45 9.43 −0.02 9.79 8.96 0.03 0.367
Physician specialties
Cardiologists 2.77 5.33 −0.07 3.25 5.21 −0.07 4.18 5.00 −0.03 7.06 5.20 0.08 0.111
Endocrinologists 4.16 2.24 0.09 3.47 2.41 0.07 3.39 2.43 0.06 4.08 2.25 0.11 0.690
Internists 46.83 64.05 −0.37 45.35 65.65 −0.42 44.52 66.68 −0.45 45.13 67.02 −0.45 0.073
Nurse practitioners or physician assistants 2.24 4.75 −0.08 2.82 5.81 −0.13 4.48 6.24 −0.07 4.46 7.21 −0.12 0.744
Healthcare utilization
Any recent hospitalization†† 1.12 4.07 −0.17 1.23 3.81 −0.15 1.21 3.55 −0.15 2.69 3.88 −0.07 0.125
Avg. length of hospitalizations (mean, std.dev) 0.25 (1.43) 0.49 (2.04) −0.04 0.33 (1.66) 0.47 (1.93) −0.03 0.33 (1.37) 0.44 (2.12) −0.04 0.40 (1.50) 0.47 (2.12) −0.05 0.294
Number of ED visits (mean, Std.dev) 0.54 (1.40) 0.57 (1.47) −0.02 0.56 (1.43) 0.58 (1.51) −0.03 0.60 (1.66) 0.64 (1.68) −0.04 0.71 (1.84) 0.72 (1.91) −0.02 0.940
Number of office visits (mean, std.dev) 11.22 (9.78) 9.76 (9.14) 0.15 11.15 (9.81) 9.65 (8.91) 0.16 11.32 (10.23) 9.84 (9.31) 0.16 11.51 (9.89) 9.86 (9.43) 0.18 0.192
Number of HbA1c test orders (mean, std.dev) 1.70 (1.17) 1.53 (1.08) 0.26 1.79 (1.15) 1.60 (1.08) 0.25 1.83 (1.17) 1.63 (1.04) 0.20 1.90 (1.19) 1.66 (1.04) 0.22 0.233
Brand/Generic ratio# (mean, std.dev) −1.30 (1.20) −1.61 (1.20) 0.26 −1.50 (1.19) −1.79 (1.17) 0.23 −1.70 (1.21) −1.92 (1.15) 0.17 −1.80 (1.19) −2.01 (1.12) 0.19 0.129
Number of unique medications (mean, std.dev) 10.47 (8.08) 10.41 (7.44) 0.09 10.38 (7.93) 10.36 (7.53) 0.05 10.47 (8.15) 10.16 (7.49) 0.06 11.18 (8.87) 10.31 (7.76) 0.10 0.740
Copay for pharmacy cost ($, mean, std.dev) 324.78 (429.14) 354.29 (519.61) 0.05 349.12 (516.60) 336.45 (570.69) 0.10 341.02 (624.02) 302.06 (546.96) 0.09 356.13 (588.57) 292.89 (545.08) 0.10 0.218
Preventive healthcare service## 70.93 75.22 −0.01 72.77 75.90 0.00 73.10 75.21 −0.03 75.37 75.52 0.00 0.983
Concomitant medications
ACE inhibitors or ARBs 59.05 63.18 −0.14 60.26 63.81 −0.10 62.18 65.09 −0.09 60.20 65.12 −0.09 0.156
Antithrombotic medications 26.46 21.71 0.04 23.84 21.53 0.00 27.06 23.45 0.03 31.49 24.10 0.19 0.251
Beta blockers 44.29 45.51 −0.09 43.89 44.99 −0.05 45.44 46.53 −0.04 48.91 45.98 0.06 0.073
Calcium channel blockers 29.53 31.85 −0.09 30.84 31.47 −0.04 30.49 32.04 −0.04 28.32 32.16 −0.03 0.111
Loop diuretics 14.48 14.65 0.00 18.27 14.38 0.04 14.50 15.72 0.02 19.01 15.90 0.10 0.137
Statin 58.77 66.49 −0.19 60.02 67.41 −0.15 65.77 70.12 −0.11 64.55 71.08 −0.09 0.005
Thiazides 10.61 15.04 −0.08 11.39 14.79 −0.09 11.59 14.50 −0.08 11.52 14.55 −0.09 0.544
Laboratory values
HbA1c§ (%; mean, std.dev) 7.82 (2.02) 7.37 (1.55) 0.27 7.58 (1.54) 7.32 (1.55) 0.18 7.50 (1.71) 7.33 (1.55) 0.10 7.83 (1.90) 7.27 (1.53) 0.30 0.951
 Missing 85.09 82.92 −0.04 81.43 78.40 −0.04 75.31 74.99 −0.01 67.49 68.47 −0.03 0.472
eGFR (mL/min/1.73m2; mean, std.dev) 100.81 (17.48) 99.45 (16.11) 0.09 99.88 (19.40) 98.67 (16.26) 0.06 101.27 (16.91) 98.50 (16.59) 0.17 95.79 (19.56) 97.46 (16.86) −0.09 0.493
 Missing 84.04 81.49 −0.05 79.76 76.78 −0.05 73.85 73.33 0.00 65.27 67.19 −0.05 0.769
LDL (mg/dl; mean, std.dev) 97.98 (47.35) 98.71 (44.11) −0.01 101.67 (38.09) 101.92 (40.92) −0.04 99.23 (39.40) 102.92 (40.78) −0.09 88.03 (43.43) 100.66 (40.35) −0.30 0.082
 Missing 84.89 82.43 −0.03 82.26 78.64 −0.02 76.23 75.81 0.00 69.71 70.75 −0.03 0.896
HDL (mg/dl; mean, std.dev) 45.88 (16.27) 45.83 (77.02) 0.00 45.96 (11.95) 46.47 (14.28) −0.04 46.06 (13.92) 46.93 (49.73) −0.02 45.70 (13.74) 46.11 (13.17) −0.03 0.454
 Missing 84.96 82.76 −0.04 82.73 79.42 −0.02 76.64 76.58 −0.01 70.34 71.79 −0.04 0.913
Total cholesterol (mg/dl; mean, std.dev) 183.37 (57.21) 180.97 (56.83) 0.05 185.31 (43.10) 188.28 (45.96) −0.08 181.94 (46.87) 188.46 (45.77) −0.14 178.25 (43.17) 184.19 (44.08) −0.13 0.111
 Missing 84.70 82.73 −0.05 82.52 79.12 −0.02 76.23 76.12 −0.01 69.90 71.11 −0.03 0.584
Triglyceride (mg/dl; mean, std.dev) 175.67 (117.28) 176.65 (155.89) 0.00 174.07 (177.49) 183.80 (160.77) −0.07 172.98 (126.02) 184.07 (180.21) −0.07 209.34 (199.19) 181.93 (159.59) 0.14 0.446
 Missing 84.83 82.79 −0.04 82.57 79.43 −0.03 76.23 76.37 −0.01 69.96 71.29 −0.04 0.643

SD: standardized difference; std.dev: standard deviation; HbA1c: hemoglobin A1c; CVD: cardiovascular disease; CKD: chronic kidney disease; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ED: emergency department.

*

Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT)

South (AL, AR, DC, DE, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV)

Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI)

West (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY)

**

Defined as a history of myocardial infarction, stable or unstable angina, other ischemic heart diseases, transient ischemic attack, stroke, atherosclerotic peripheral vascular disease, or heart failure.

Defined as specialist visits occurred within 7 days prior to cohort entry.

††

Defined as hospitalization occurred within 30 days prior to cohort entry.

#

Added 1 to both numerator and denominator, then log-transformed.

##

Defined as administration of bone mineral density (BMD) test, colonoscopy, fecal occult blood test, mammography, pap smear, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, flu vaccine, or pneumococcal vaccine.

§

Measured 180 days prior to or on cohort entry.

Estimated using the quadratic GFR equation: GFR=exp(1.911+5.249Serum creatinine2.114Serum creatinine20.00686 * Age0.205(if female)). If serum creatinine <0.8 mg/dL, use 0.8 for serum creatinine.