Cardiovascular risk profiles

About this study

This was a study looking at cardiovascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Minimising cardiovascular complications is an essential part of managing diabetes effectively, because cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death and illness among individuals with T2D.  

The study examined the results from three clinical trials, REWIND, LEADER and SUSTAIN-6, for treatments used in the management of diabetes. The three trials were cardiovascular outcomes trials (CVOTs), designed to assess the cardiovascular safety of treatments known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs), known to lower blood glucose. 

REWIND, LEADER and SUSTAIN-6 all showed statistically significant improvements in cardiovascular outcomes for patients with T2D in comparison to placebo, however, CVOTs often have to include participants with heightened cardiovascular risk. The purpose of the study, UK T2D Patients Matching GLP-1RA Outcome Trials, was therefore to assess how well patient populations in the three CVOTs were representative of the real-world UK T2D population. 

The study leads sampled the adult UK T2D population (as of June 2018) through the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD database, and subsequently identified T2D patients with recorded major cardiovascular events via Hospital Episode Statistics data.

The studied show that, at 64.5%, REWIND had the higher proportion of patients reflective of the UK T2D population compared the 43% recorded for both LEADER and SUSTAIN-6. 

Importantly, REWIND also captured a broader spectrum of patients, including 42.1% with "cardiovascular risk factors only" and a reasonable representation of those with "established cardiovascular disease", at 22.4%. In comparison, LEADER and SUSTAIN-6 focus more narrowly on high-risk populations. Therefore, REWIND demonstrates a better representation of the real-world UK T2D population.