Pooling 54 randomised trials in 49,602 people with type 2 diabetes, GLP-1 receptor agonists were associated with a lower risk of bone fracture than placebo or other glucose-lowering drugs, and exenatide ranked as the most favourable agent (RR 0.17, 95% CI 0.03-0.67). A statistically significant inconsistency appeared in some of the indirect comparisons.
- Study design
- Meta-analysis
- Journal
- Osteoporos Int
- Evidence
- well supported
What it shows: Bayesian network meta-analysis of 54 RCTs (49,602 participants, 28,353 on GLP-1 RAs) in people with type 2 diabetes, not healthy adults. Fractures were rarely the trials' main outcome, the exenatide estimate rests on very few events with a wide confidence interval, and the network showed significant inconsistency in some comparisons, so drug rankings are fragile.Meta-analysis · Osteoporos Int