Risk Factors for the Discontinuation of Liraglutide Due to Adverse Events

Abstract

Liraglutide is occasionally discontinued due to the onset of adverse events, such as gastrointestinal disorders. We retrospectively investigated risk factors for the discontinuation of liraglutide in patients treated at Kanazawa University Hospital. Independent risk factors for the discontinuation of liraglutide were identified according to a multivariate logistic regression analysis. The incidence of adverse events was 67.2 % in the patients treated with liraglutide, and the discontinuation rate was 11.5 %. Risk factors for the discontinuation of liraglutide included severe renal impairment (estimated glomerular filtration rate<30 ml/min/1.73 m² or treatment with hemodialysis) and chronic diabetes mellitus (≥15 years). These data suggest that it is necessary to determine the characteristics of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus before administering liraglutide and that the dose of liraglutide should be increased carefully in patients with risk factors.