Effectiveness and persistence of anti-obesity medications (liraglutide 3 mg, lorcaserin, and orlistat) in a real-world primary care setting

Abstract

Abstract Background Obesity is a chronic disease with rising prevalence. Guidelines suggest medications for obesity management if lifestyle interventions do not lead to substantial weight loss. Randomized control trials have shown the efficacy of anti-obesity medications in inducing weight loss, but real-world data are lacking. Therefore, our study aims to evaluate anti-obesity medications’ effectiveness in reducing weight and improving cardiometabolic parameters and to assess their persistence in a real-world setting. Methods A historical cohort study using routinely collected data from Clalit Health Services (CHS). We retrieved data on all CHS members aged ≥20 years who initiated anti-obesity medication (orlistat, liraglutide 3 mg, and lorcaserin) between 2018 and 2020. We assessed average weight loss and the percentage of patients that had lost ≥5% and ≥10% of their body weight at 3, 6, and 9 months and compared the effectiveness of these 3 medications. Results We included 5,306 CHS members in our study; most (77.8%) were female, aged 40–59 years (52.4%). Treatment with liraglutide 3 mg and lorcaserin was associated with subsequent weight reduction. The average weight loss at 6 months was 5.6 kg (4.95–6.25, 95% confidence interval [CI]) with liraglutide 3 mg and 1.7 kg (1.2–2.2, 95% CI) with lorcaserin. There was no evidence that treatment with orlistat was associated with subsequent weight loss (−0.18 kg [−0.8 to 0.4, 95% CI]). At 6 months, 38% of the patients with orlistat, 43% with lorcaserin, and 51% with liraglutide 3 mg persisted with their treatments (P < 0.001). Conclusion Liraglutide 3 mg was the primary medication associated with clinically significant weight loss and had the highest persistence rate in our real-world study.