Diabetes facts and figures show the growing global burden for individuals, families and countries nowhere more so than in China. 1 In the ongoing struggle to manage type 2 diabetes (T2DM), achieving glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) targets remains a formidable task for many patients. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) have demonstrated their multiple beneficial effects in reducing HbA1c, promoting weight loss and improving cardiovascular survival, as recognized by the most recent national and international guidelines. 2,3 The efficacy and safety of semaglutide has been studied in the SUSTAIN clinical trial programme and this drug has demonstrated high efficacy in the improvement of glycaemic control and reduction of body weight in T2DM patients. 4,5 However, because current evidence on semaglutide in a broad range of individuals with T2DM mainly derives from randomized controlled trials (RCTs), it is important to collect data on its use in real-world studies assessing semaglutide against comparators, to complement and validate the results from RCTs. 6,7 The aim of the present study was to conduct a real-life study in people with T2DM treated with either once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide or other glucose-lowering agents, assessing their clinical effectiveness and safety, and to examine changes in concomitant glucose-lowering medications.
| METHODSThis single-centre, observational, retrospective study, investigating the use and impact of once-weekly semaglutide, a GLP-1RA, after 6 and 12 months of treatment, included 502 participants with T2DM initiating semaglutide and 511 participants treated with other glucose-lowering agents (non-GLP-1RA users). Details regarding the study criteria and methods are provided in the Supplementary Methods. The study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki 8 and approved by the Shanghai General Hospital and Research Hospital Ethics Board (non-registered clinical trials 20 230 302 100 121 187).Chenyang Shi, Yijiong Tan and Shanshan Hu contributed equally to this work.