ObjectivesTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin combined with hypoglycemic drugs in the treatment of diabetes patients.MethodsPubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, WanFang Data, VIP, CNKI and CBM databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin combined with hypoglycemic drugs in the treatment of diabetes patients from inception to December, 2018. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software and Stata 14.0 software.ResultsA total of 16 RCTs involving 5 388 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared with control group, intervention group provided more reduction in HbAlc (MD=−0.55, 95%CI −0.63 to −0.48, P<0.000 01) and body weight (MD=−2.17, 95%CI −2.46 to −1.88, P<0.000 01). There were no significant differences in hypoglycaemia (RR=1.05, 95%CI 0.93 to 1.18, P=0.44) and hypotension (RR=1.63, 95%CI 0.73 to 3.65, P=0.23). The incidence of urinary tract infection (RR=1.29, 95%CI 1.03 to 1.61, P=0.02) and genital infection (RR=3.89, 95%CI 2.86 to 5.29, P< 0.000 01) in intervention groups were higher than those in the control groups.ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that dapagliflozin as an add-on drug to conventional antidiabetic drugs can more effectively reduce glycated hemoglobin and body weight in diabetic patients and does not increase the incidence of hypoglycemia and hypotension, however, with an increased risk for development of urinary tract infection and genital infections. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies are required to verify above conclusions.