Baseline characteristics in all 51 675 type 2 diabetes patients and in groups based on glucose-lowering treatments
| Metformin only | Metformin + other OHA | Metformin + insulin | Insulin only | Other OHA only | Insulin + other OHA | Metformin + insulin + other OHA | Total | |
| N | 14 697 (28%) | 8807 (17%) | 7109 (14%) | 12 291 (24%) | 5171 (10%) | 1365 (2.6%) | 2235 (4.3%) | 51 675 (100%) |
| Age (years) | 63.8 (9.7) | 65.4 (9.7) | 64.6 (8.8) | 65.2 (10.5) | 69.7 (9.5) | 69.6 (9.1) | 64.7 (8.5) | 65.3 (9.8) |
| HbA1c (%) | 6.9 (3.1) | 7.3 (3.2) | 7.7 (3.4) | 7.6 (3.4) | 6.9 (3.0) | 7.7 (3.3) | 7.9 (3.4) | 7.3 (3.3) |
| <6.9 | 8131 (55.3%) | 3296 (37.4%) | 1710 (24.1%) | 3433 (27.9%) | 2898 (56.0%) | 326 (23.9%) | 361 (16.2%) | 20 155 (39.0%) |
| 6.9–8.8 | 6037 (41.1%) | 4982 (56.6%) | 4240 (59.6%) | 7045 (57.3%) | 2139 (41.4%) | 845 (61.9%) | 1478 (66.1%) | 26 766 (51.8%) |
| >8.8 | 529 (3.6%) | 529 (6.0%) | 1159 (16.3%) | 1813 (14.8%) | 134 (2.6%) | 194 (14.2%) | 396 (17.7%) | 4754 (9.2%) |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 139.4 (16.6) | 141.2 (16.9) | 140.8 (16.8) | 138.9 (18.0) | 141.4 (17.5) | 141.9 (18.2) | 141.9 (16.4) | 140.1 (17.2) |
| Diabetes duration (years) | 4.6 (4.3) | 8.9 (5.9) | 11.6 (7.0) | 14.3 (10.4) | 7.5 (6.2) | 11.6 (6.8) | 12.0 (6.2) | 9.4 (8.0) |
| eGFR (ml/min/1.73 m2) | 82.0 (20.2) | 80.4 (21.1) | 79.2 (21.5) | 73.6 (23.8) | 73.8 (21.1) | 68.9 (22.4) | 79.5 (21.2) | 78.1 (21.9) |
| <45 | 231 (1.6%) | 222 (2.5%) | 238 (3.3%) | 1370 (11.1%) | 404 (7.8%) | 214 (15.7%) | 63 (2.8%) | 2742 (5.3%) |
| 45–60 | 1572 (10.7%) | 1167 (13.3%) | 1024 (14.4%) | 1955 (15.9%) | 888 (17.2%) | 255 (18.7%) | 316 (14.1%) | 7177 (13.9%) |
| >60 | 12 894 (87.7%) | 7418 (84.2%) | 5847 (82.2%) | 8966 (72.9%) | 3879 (75.0%) | 896 (65.6%) | 1856 (83.0%) | 41 756 (80.8%) |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 30.7 (4.9) | 29.9 (4.9) | 31.6 (5.0) | 27.4 (4.8) | 27.2 (4.5) | 28.3 (4.9) | 31.1 (5.1) | 29.5 (5.1) |
| Non-HDL-C (mmol/l) | 3.64 (1.00) | 3.53 (0.98) | 3.39 (0.97) | 3.35 (0.98) | 3.60 (0.99) | 3.52 (1.04) | 3.39 (0.94) | 3.50 (0.99) |
| Microalbuminuria | 21.0% | 25.9% | 33.8% | 30.8% | 24.2% | 34.4% | 34.5% | 27.2% |
| Previous hospitalisation | 11.5% | 11.6% | 18.1% | 23.1% | 15.5% | 22.9% | 15.2% | 16.1% |
| Female sex | 44.7% | 40.0% | 43.5% | 40.2% | 39.2% | 39.8% | 41.4% | 41.9% |
| History of CVD | 15.9% | 17.6% | 25.9% | 26.4% | 21.4% | 30.2% | 24.6% | 21.4% |
| History of CHF | 3.5% | 3.9% | 7.3% | 8.9% | 6.4% | 10.1% | 5.5% | 5.9% |
| History of serious infections | 1.8% | 1.6% | 2.9% | 4.9% | 2.8% | 5.2% | 2.7% | 2.9% |
| Cardiac glycosides | 2.6% | 2.7% | 4.1% | 3.0% | 4.3% | 6.2% | 4.3% | 3.3% |
| Organic nitrates | 6.3% | 7.4% | 9.7% | 8.5% | 8.8% | 13.0% | 10.1% | 8.1% |
| Acetylsalicylic acid | 45.4% | 48.8% | 57.3% | 45.7% | 45.9% | 55.4% | 58.6% | 48.6% |
| Lipid-modifying agents | 49.9% | 54.0% | 61.7% | 44.8% | 44.1% | 51.7% | 63.6% | 51.1% |
| Antihypertensive agents | 71.8% | 74.0% | 81.9% | 66.2% | 71.3% | 79.5% | 83.0% | 72.9% |
| Multidose dispensation | 1.4% | 1.6% | 2.7% | 3.0% | 1.5% | 3.7% | 2.6% | 2.1% |
| Smoker | 14.8% | 14.0% | 12.8% | 14.9% | 12.3% | 12.2% | 13.6% | 14.0% |
Means ± 1 SD and frequencies (%) are given. There were statistically significant differences (p<0.001) in all variables between the groups.
BMI, body mass index; CHF, congestive heart failure; CVD, cardiovascular disease; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol; OHA, oral hypoglycaemic agent.