Proportion of patients at HbA1c target <7% with eight classes of antidiabetic drugs in type 2 diabetes: systematic review of 218 randomized controlled trials with 78 945 patients

AIM: We assessed the efficacy of eight classes of diabetes medications used in current clinical practice metformin, sulphonylureas, α-glucosidase inhibitors, thiazolidinediones, glinides, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogues and insulin analogues to reach the HbA1c target 9.0% with no further decrease, whereas for non-insulin drugs the relationship was continuous without any evidence of plateau. CONCLUSIONS: There is a considerable variability with regard to attainment of HbA1c goal of <7% among the different classes of diabetes medications; baseline HbA1c is an important determinant of observed efficacy.