One-Third of Patients Persist on Antiobesity Medications at Six Months

Semaglutide associated with the highest persistence at one year

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Jan. 5, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Later-stage persistence with antiobesity medication (AOM) varies based on the drug and six-month weight loss, according to a study published online Dec. 6 in Obesity.

Hamlet Gasoyan, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues examined the percentage of patients with an initial AOM fill who were persistent with AOM at three, six, and 12 months and characterized factors associated with persistence at 12 months. The analysis included 1,911 patients (median baseline body mass index of 38 kg/m²) with an initial AOM prescription filled between 2015 and 2022 at a large health system.

The researchers found that 44 percent of patients were persistent with AOM at three months, 33 percent at six months, and 19 percent at 12 months. The highest one-year persistence of AOM was in patients receiving semaglutide (40 percent; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 4.26; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 3.04 to 6.05) compared with phentermine-topiramate, while naltrexone-bupropion (aOR, 0.68; 95 percent CI, 0.46 to 1.00) trended toward lower odds compared with phentermine-topiramate. Among patients with six-month persistence, each 1 percent increase in weight loss at six months was associated with 6 percent increased odds of persistence at year 1 (aOR, 1.06; 95 percent CI, 1.03 to 1.09).

“Our findings indicate that although later-stage persistence with AOM remains low, patients receiving more effective AOMs and those experiencing greater medium-term weight loss have higher odds of later-stage persistence,” the authors write.

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