Hypoglycemic Events in Diabetic Patients under Non-insulin Regimens During Ramadan: A Frequentist Network Meta-Analysis

Background Diabetic Muslims who choose to fast during Ramadan encounter major risks such as hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, and dehydration. Recently, newer antidiabetic agents have been found to be less likely to cause hypoglycemic emergencies. This meta-analysis aimed to present collective and conclusive results from major randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to determine the risk of hypoglycemia among patients taking oral antidiabetics during Ramadan. Methods We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for RCTs. We performed a frequentist network meta-analysis using the “netmeta” package of R software version 4.1.1 to investigate the risk of developing hypoglycemia after taking oral antidiabetic drugs during Ramadan. Results Nine RCTs with a total of 3464 patients were included in the final analysis. In the comparison of all antidiabetic drug classes with sulfonylureas, SGLT-2 inhibitors were associated with the lowest hypoglycemic risk (RR, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.04-0.78; P-score, 0.909), followed by GLP-1 agonists (RR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.17-0.56; P-score, 0.799), and DDP-4 inhibitors (RR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.43-0.75; P-score, 0.483). When comparing individual drugs, dapagliflozin was associated with the lowest hypoglycemic risk (RR, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.04-0.78; P-score, 0.874), followed by lixisenatide (RR, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.09-0.71; P-score, 0.813), liraglutide (RR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.17-0.69; P-score, 0.715), and sitagliptin (RR. 0.51; 95% CI, 0.37-0.71; P-score, 0.515). Conclusion SGLT-2 inhibitors are associated with the least documented hypoglycemic events and adverse outcomes compared with other oral hypoglycemic drugs. These findings could have considerable public health and clinical implications when extrapolated to the global Muslim population with a similar clinical background. Abstract Figure