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Treatment of obesity: Pharmacotherapy trends in the U nited S tates from 1999 to 2010
Author(s) -
Xia Ying,
Kelton Christina M.L.,
Guo Jeff J.,
Bian Boyang,
Heaton Pamela C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1002/oby.21136
Subject(s) - medicine , obesity , ambulatory , medical prescription , pharmacotherapy , logistic regression , odds ratio , odds , anti obesity , pediatrics , pharmacology
Objective To describe the antiobesity drug‐prescribing patterns of US physicians over the past decade. Methods Data for adult patients were obtained from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Obesity was identified using ICD‐9 codes, BMI values, and a chronic‐obesity‐condition variable. For patients with obesity, a logistic‐regression model was estimated to determine the odds of receiving pharmacotherapy. Results Of the 987 million visits by patients with obesity from 2005 to 2010, 2.0% mentioned an antiobesity drug. Additionally, there were 6.5 million visits by patients without obesity but with an antiobesity drug mention. Visits made by females (OR = 2.89; 95% CI: 2.08‐4.03), by white patients (OR = 1.55; 95% CI: 1.08‐2.24), by younger adults (OR = 1.71; 95% CI: 1.34‐2.20), and in the South (OR = 3.39; 95% CI: 1.49‐7.72) were more likely to involve an antiobesity drug prescription. Conclusions Only 1 in 50 patients with obesity received a prescription for an antiobesity medication. Moreover, in contrast to what the 1998 Guidelines suggested, physicians tended to prescribe antiobesity medications to self‐paying, young, white females, many of whom lived in the South, and not all of whom had obesity.