Purpose: To evaluate whether concomitant use of amiodarone and sulfonylureas is associated with an increased risk of serious hypoglycemia.
Methods: We conducted two nested case-control studies by analyzing the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database from 2008 to 2013 among diabetic patients continuously receiving sulfonylureas. Cases were defined as patients with severe hypoglycemia and those with a composite outcome of severe hypoglycemia, altered consciousness, and fall-related fracture in the first and second study, respectively. In both studies, each case was individually matched up to 10 randomly-selected controls. Conditional logistic regressions were employed to estimate odds ratios (ORs).
Results: We identified 1343 cases and 11 597 controls as well as 2848 cases of composite events and 24 808 controls among 46 317 sulfonylurea users. Concurrent use of amiodarone with sulfonylureas was associated with a 1.56-fold (95% CI: 0.98-2.46) increased risk of severe hypoglycemia, despite not statistically significant. Notably, an approximately 2-fold increased risk of severe hypoglycemia was observed with amiodarone therapy lasting for >180 days (adjusted OR: 2.08; 95% CI: 1.01-4.30) or at a daily dose greater than 1 defined daily dose (adjusted OR: 2.21; 95% CI: 1.25-3.91) when concurrently administrating sulfonylureas. A significantly increased risk of hypoglycemia-related composite events was also found with amiodarone concurrently used with sulfonylureas (adjusted OR: 1.59; 95% CI: 1.13-2.24).
Conclusions: Concurrent use of amiodarone and sulfonylureas is associated with an increased risk of serious hypoglycemia among diabetic patients, with an elevated risk for amiodarone used in a long-term or at a high daily dose.
Keywords: amiodarone; drug interactions; nested case-control study; pharmacoepidemiology; severe hypoglycemia; sulfonylureas.
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.