Upper and/or lower gastrointestinal adverse events with glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor agonists: Incidence and consequences

Aims To characterize gastrointestinal adverse events (AEs) with different glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor agonists (GLP‐1RAs). Methods Two retrospective intention‐to‐treat analyses of 6‐month patient‐level data were conducted. Data from three studies comparing exenatide once weekly (n = 617) with exenatide twice daily (n = 606) were pooled, and one (DURATION‐6) comparing exenatide once weekly (n = 461) with liraglutide (n = 450) was analysed separately. Patient‐reported gastrointestinal AEs were classified as upper or lower, AE incidences and timing were determined, subgroups were analysed, and associations of gastrointestinal AEs with efficacy were examined. Results Nausea was the most common gastrointestinal AE for all treatments. Fewer exenatide once‐weekly‐treated vs exenatide twice‐daily‐ or liraglutide‐treated patients reported gastrointestinal AEs (34% vs 45% and 25% vs 41%, respectively; both P