Rationale & Objective
It is unclear whether the effect of canagliflozin on adverse kidney and cardiovascular events in those with diabetic kidney disease varies by age and sex. We assessed the effects of canagliflozin among age group categories and between sexes in the Canagliflozin and Renal Endpoints in Diabetes with Established Nephropathy Clinical Evaluation (CREDENCE) study.

Study Design
Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Setting & Participants
Participants in the CREDENCE trial.

Intervention
Participants were randomly assigned to receive canagliflozin 100 mg/d or placebo.

Outcomes
Primary composite outcome of kidney failure, doubling of serum creatinine concentration, or death due to kidney or cardiovascular disease. Prespecified secondary and safety outcomes were also analyzed. Outcomes were evaluated by age at baseline (<60, 60-69, and ≥70 years) and sex in the intention-to-treat population using Cox regression models.

Results
The mean age of the cohort was 63.0 ± 9.2 years, and 34% were female. Older age and female sex were independently associated with a lower risk of the composite of adverse kidney outcomes. There was no evidence that the effect of canagliflozin on the primary outcome (a composite of kidney failure, a doubling of serum creatinine concentration, or death from kidney or cardiovascular causes) differed between age groups (HRs, 0.67 [95% CI, 0.52-0.87], 0.63 [0.48-0.82], and 0.89 [0.61-1.29] for ages <60, 60-69, and ≥70 years, respectively; P = 0.3 for interaction) or sexes (HRs, 0.71 [95% CI, 0.54-0.95] and 0.69 [0.56-0.84] in women and men, respectively; P = 0.8 for interaction). No differences in safety outcomes by age group or sex were observed.

Limitations
This was a post hoc analysis with multiple comparisons.

Conclusions
Canagliflozin consistently reduced the relative risk of kidney events in people with diabetic kidney disease in both sexes and across age subgroups. As a result of greater background risk, the absolute reduction in adverse kidney outcomes was greater in younger participants.

Funding
This post hoc analysis of the CREDENCE trial was not funded. The CREDENCE study was sponsored by Janssen Research and Development and was conducted collaboratively by the sponsor, an academic-led steering committee, and an academic research organization, George Clinical.

Trial Registration
The original CREDENCE trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov with study number NCT02065791.