Sodium-glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitor Initiation and Incident Dementia in Heart Failure With Diabetes: A Population-based Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND

Heart failure often coexists with important dementia-risk factors, such as diabetes, atrial fibrillation and hypertension. Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have been associated with a lower dementia risk in general diabetes populations, but evidence is limited, specifically in heart failure with comorbid diabetes.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the association of SGLT2 inhibitors with incident dementia in people with heart failure and diabetes.

METHODS

This target trial emulation cohort study used linkable administrative databases from Ontario, Canada. New users of SGLT2 inhibitors or dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitors aged ≥ 66 years with diabetes and heart failure (July 2016-December 2020) entered this cohort. A 180-day lag time was implemented to mitigate reverse causality. The primary analysis used an intention-to-treat exposure definition. Cause-specific hazard ratios (HRs), with death as a competing risk, were estimated by using Cox models with propensity-score fine stratification weights. Weighted incidence-rate differences (IRDs) per 1000 person-years were also estimated.

RESULTS

Among 4402 SGLT2 inhibitor and 6319 DPP4 inhibitor new users, over a median follow-up of 3.95 years from treatment initiation, SGLT2 inhibitor vs DPP4 inhibitor initiation was associated with lower dementia risk (HR 0.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.60-0.87; IRD -8.1, 95% CI -12.7 to -3.5). The secondary as-treated analysis showed greater risk reduction (HR 0.53, 95% CI 0.39-0.70; IRD -14.2, 95% CI -20.1 to -8.4) than the primary intention-to-treat analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

SGLT2 inhibitor initiation was associated with dementia risk reduction in heart failure and diabetes, a population at a high risk of developing dementia.