OBJECTIVE Patients with type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of bone fractures, the predisposing factors for which are unknown. Treatment with thiazolidinediones (TZDs) further increases the incidence of osteoporotic fractures. In the Saxagliptin Assessment of Vascular Outcomes Recorded in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus (SAVOR-TIMI 53) trial, fractures were considered an adverse event of special interest, and information regarding fractures was collected.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We compared the incidence of fractures among the 8,280 patients who were assigned to treatment with saxagliptin with that in the 8,212 patients who were assigned to placebo. We further analyzed the participants’ baseline characteristics and fracture risk.

RESULTS During a median follow-up of 2.1 years, 241 patients (2.9%) in the saxagliptin group and 240 (2.9%) in the placebo group experienced a fracture (hazard ratio [HR] 1.00 [95% CI 0.83–1.19]). Event rates for fractures were the same in both treatment arms: 14.7 per 1000 patient-years in the entire population and 14.0 in the on-treatment population (first event only). Fracture risk was similar in patients treated with saxagliptin or placebo across different subgroups defined by race, cardiovascular risk, and renal function. A multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that risk of fracture was associated with female gender (P < 0.0001), longer diabetes duration (P < 0.0001), older age (P = 0.002), major hypoglycemic events (P = 0.01), noncompliance with study drug (P = 0.01), and treatment with TZDs (P = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS In a large population of older patients with type 2 diabetes, treatment with saxagliptin was not associated with an increased risk of fractures. The association between longer diabetes duration and increased risk of bone fracture is an intriguing finding.