The two common processes of diabetes and frailty are insulin resistance and chronic inflammation, and these two conditions are the principal targets of metformin. Recent research published in the ‘European Journal of Medical Research’ explored whether metformin was associated with a low risk of frailty and other adverse outcomes in patients with diabetes.

      The study included a total of 422 patients aged ≥ 40 years old with type 2 diabetes. The primary outcome was the combined endpoint of cardiovascular events, cerebrovascular events, readmission, and death. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the association of metformin with frailty. Survival analysis was performed using Cox proportional hazards models.

      Metformin was inversely associated with frailty after adjusting for age, sex, duration, blood glucose levels, target organ damage, comorbidities, and polypharmacy. Further longitudinal analysis showed that metformin was also independently associated with a low risk of combined primary outcomes after adjusting for multiple covariables, while frailty was related to an increased risk of the combined primary outcomes.

      The study concluded that metformin use is associated with a reduced risk of frailty.

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