Abstract
Objective
To examine pharmacotherapy for obesity in the United States from 2011 to 2016 using
a large, nationally representative sample.
Methods
Data were obtained during 6 years, 2011 to 2016, from the National Ambulatory Medical
Care Survey. There were 3 types of visits identified: patients with obesity and an
antiobesity drug mention; patients with obesity and no antiobesity drug mention; and
patients without obesity and with antiobesity drug mention. The χ2 test was used to compare characteristics across each type of visit. To predict the
odds of an antiobesity medication mention for patients with obesity, a logistic regression
analysis was conducted.
Results
Of the overall weighted 196,872,870 office-based physician visits made by patients
with obesity from 2011 to 2016, 1% mentioned an antiobesity drug. In addition, there
were 760,470 office-based physician visits by patients without obesity but with an
antiobesity medication mention. An antiobesity drug mention was more likely for those
aged 51 years or older and those residing in the South (adjusted odds ratio, 5.31
95% CI, 1.19 to 23.59).
Conclusion
There was a slight increase in antiobesity medication mentions, from 0.26% in 2011
to 0.28% in 2016, but only 1% of office-based visits for patients with obesity received
a prescription for an antiobesity medication. Physicians tended to prescribe antiobesity
medications to those with obesity aged 51 years or older and residing in the South.
Antiobesity medication for treatment of obesity is significantly underused.
Abbreviations and Acronyms:
AMA (American Medical Association), AOR (adjusted odds ratio), BMI (body mass index), FDA (US Food and Drug Administration), ICD-9-CM (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification), ICD-10-CM (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification), NAMCS (National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey), NCHS (National Center for Health Statistics), NHAMCS (National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: October 30, 2021
Footnotes
For editorial comment, see page 2939
Grant Support: This work was supported by the Physician/Scientist Development Award granted by the Executive Committee on Research at Massachusetts General Hospital (F.C.S.), NIH P30 DK040561 (F.C.S.), and L30 DK118710 (F.C.S.).
Potential Competing Interests: The authors report no competing interests.
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