Could a widely used antidiabetic drug increases the risk of phimosis? Yes. Men with Type 2 diabetes starting sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) may have a higher risk of developing phimosis compared with those initiating glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA), according to an extensive population-based active-comparator new-user cohort Danish study published in Diabetes Care.

The analysis included 32,486 men initiating SGLT2i and 14,793 starting GLP-1RA. The median follow-up duration was four years, and the maximum was eight years. After one year, phimosis occurred in 0.9% of new SGLT2i users compared with 0.5% of GLP-1RA users (risk ratio of 1.88).

Over the full eight-year follow-up, cumulative phimosis risk reached 4.8% in SGLT2i users and 3.6% in GLP-1RA users (risk ratio of 1.36).