The Effectiveness of Metformin in Diabetes Prevention: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Open accessAbstract
Diabetes mellitus is a growing global health concern, and prevention strategies play a crucial role in reducing its burden. Metformin has been widely studied as a potential intervention for diabetes prevention, but its overall effectiveness and impact on various populations remain unclear. This study aims to provide a comprehensive synthesis of the available evidence on the effectiveness of metformin in diabetes prevention. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar for articles published from inception to June 2023. The reference lists of the included studies were also searched to retrieve possible additional studies. Any quantitative data were analyzed using Review Manager 5.4. A P-value of 0.05 was adopted as the significance threshold. Our analysis included 17 studies with a total sample size of 30,474. Our meta-analysis included two key analyses. First, the meta-analysis evaluating the effects of metformin on prediabetes demonstrated a significant reduction in the risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The pooled odds ratio (OR) was 0.65 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.53-0.80), indicating a 35% lower odds of developing T2DM among individuals with prediabetes who received metformin interventions compared to control groups. Secondly, the meta-analysis assessing the efficacy of metformin interventions in preventing T2DM yielded a significant reduction in the risk of developing the disease. The pooled risk ratio was 0.58 (95% CI 0.44-0.77), indicating a 42% lower risk of developing T2DM in individuals receiving metformin interventions compared to those in non-metformin intervention groups. These findings provide strong evidence for the effectiveness of metformin in preventing the progression of prediabetes to T2DM and reducing the overall incidence of the disease. The review demonstrated that metformin is effective in reducing the risk of developing diabetes mellitus among individuals at risk for the disease. The findings highlight the potential of metformin as a valuable intervention for diabetes prevention, particularly in high-risk populations.
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Metformin is a highly effective and widely adopted intervention for both managing T2D and preventing its onset in high-risk individuals.
“Metformin is a highly effective and widely adopted intervention for both managing type 2 diabetes (T2D) and preventing its onset in high-risk individuals [20,27].”
From Economic evaluation of wearable fitness trackers versus metformin for preventing type 2 diabetes in the UK population (2025) · cites this paper as [20]
The Abstract reports a 42% lower risk of developing T2DM with metformin, and the Conclusions describe it as a valuable prevention intervention for high-risk populations. The Introduction calls metformin an oral antidiabetic drug, but the passages do not establish that it is highly effective for managing existing T2D or widely adopted for either purpose. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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- [13]Metformin Corcoran C Jacobs TF Treasure Island, FL StatPearls Publishing 2022 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK518983/ 30085525
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Xu, Y., & García-Lorenzo, B. (2025) · BMC Digital Health · doi:10.1186/s44247-025-00194-0
- Authors
- Patel, D., Ayesha, I. E., Monson, N. R., Klair, N., Patel, U., Saxena, A., & Hamid, P.
- Affiliations
- California Institute of Behavioral Neurosciences and Psychology (United States) (US)
- Corresponding author
- Patel, Dhara
- Venue
- Cureus
- Published
- 2023-09-28
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- e46108-e46108
- ISSN
- 2168-8184 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10611985
- OpenAlex
- W4387117760
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 12
- FWCI
- 1.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Cureus (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Treatment and Management
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes, Cardiovascular Risks, and Lipoproteins
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Metabolism, Diabetes, and Cancer
- Keywords
- metformin, diabetes prevention, type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, prediabetes progression
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