Supplementary Material for: Effect of SGLT2 Inhibitors on Risk of Stroke in Diabetes: A Meta-Analysis

<b><i>Background:</i></b> The effect of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors on reducing the risk of stroke in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains unclear. Thus, we conducted this systemic review and meta-analysis of all relevant studies and trials to explore the role of SGLT2 inhibitors on the stroke prevention. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> The present study included articles published before October 2021 and searched in Web of Science, PubMed databases. We used STATA 12.0 software to compute hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). <b><i>Results:</i></b> Meta-analysis indicated that SGLT2 inhibitors showed no significant effects on risk of stroke in diabetes in randomized controlled trials with a fixed effects model (HR = 0.98; 95% CI: 0.88–1.09, <i>I</i>² = 22.3%, <i>p</i> = 0.272). Compared to other glucose-lowering drugs (oGLD) and insulin, SGLT2 inhibitors alone significantly affected risk of stroke in diabetes in observational studies with a random effects model (HR = 0.87; 95% CI: 0.80–0.95, <i>I</i>² = 72.2%, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> In summary, this meta-analysis indicated that the use of SGLT2 inhibitors did not decrease the risk of stroke. And for some T2DM patients with high-risk factor of stroke, SGLT2 inhibitors therapy may be more suitable compared to some oGLD such as dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors. The results of this meta-analysis are necessary to be confirmed with further studies and clinical trials.