Empagliflozin Use Is Associated With Lower Risk of All-Cause Mortality, Hospitalization for Heart Failure, and End-Stage Renal Disease Compared to DPP-4i in Nordic Type 2 Diabetes Patients: Results From the EMPRISE (Empagliflozin Comparative Effectiveness and Safety) Study

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of empagliflozin in reducing all-cause mortality (ACM), hospitalization for heart failure (HHF), myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, cardiovascular mortality (CVM), and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in routine clinical practice in the Nordic countries of the Empagliflozin Comparative Effectiveness and Safety (EMPRISE) study. Methods: This noninterventional, multicountry cohort study used secondary data from four Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway). Propensity score (PS) matched (1:1) adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) initiating empagliflozin (a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor) during 2014-2018 who were compared to those initiating a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor (DPP-4i). Cox proportional hazards regression modelling was used to assess the risk for ACM, HHF, MI, stroke, CVM, and ESRD. Meta-analyses were conducted and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from random-effects models were calculated. Results: A total of 43,695 pairs of PS-matched patients were identified. Patients initiating empagliflozin exhibited a 49% significantly lower risk of ACM (HR: 0.51, 95% CI 0.40-0.64) compared to DPP-4i. Additionally, empagliflozin was associated with a 36% significantly lower risk of HHF (HR: 0.64, 95% CI 0.46-0.89), a 52% significantly lower risk of CVM (HR: 0.48, 95% CI 0.37-0.63), and a 66% significantly lower risk of ESRD (HR: 0.34, 95% CI 0.15-0.77) compared to DPP-4i. No significant differences were observed in the risk of stroke and MI between patients initiating empagliflozin compared with those initiating a DPP-4i. Results were generally consistent for subgroups (with/without pre-existing CV disease or congestive heart failure) and in sensitivity analyses. Conclusion: Empagliflozin initiation was associated with a significantly reduced risk of ACM, HHF, CVM, and ESRD compared with initiation of DPP-4i in patients with T2D when examining routine clinical practice data from Nordic countries.