Evaluating associations between the benefits and risks of drug therapy in type 2 diabetes: a joint modeling approach

Precision medicine drug therapy seeks to maximize efficacy and minimize harm for individual patients. This will be difficult if drug response and side effects are positively associated, meaning that patients likely to respond best are at increased risk of side effects. We applied joint longitudinal-survival models to evaluate associations between drug response (longitudinal outcome) and the risk of side effects (survival outcome) for patients initiating type 2 diabetes therapy.

Participants were randomized to metformin (MFN), sulfonylurea (SU), or thiazolidinedione (TZD) therapy in the A Diabetes Outcome Progression Trial (ADOPT) drug efficacy trial (n=4,351). Joint models were parameterized for 1) current HbA1c response (change from baseline in HbA1c) and 2) cumulative HbA1c response (total HbA1c change).

With MFN, greater HbA1c response did not increase the risk of gastrointestinal events (HR per 1% absolute greater current response 0.82 [95% CI 0.67, 1.01]; HR per 1% higher cumulative response 0.90 [95% CI 0.81, 1.00]). With SU, greater current response was associated with an increased risk of hypoglycemia (HR 1.41 [95% CI 1.04, 1.91]). With TZD, greater response was associated with an increased risk of edema (current HR 1.45 [95% CI 1.05, 2.01]; cumulative 1.22 [95% CI 1.07, 1.38]) but not fracture.

Joint modeling provides a useful framework to evaluate the association between response to a drug and the risk of developing side effects. There may be great potential for widespread application of joint modeling to evaluate the risks and benefits of both new and established medications.