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Low adoption of weight loss medications: A comparison of prescribing patterns of antiobesity pharmacotherapies and SGLT 2s
Author(s) -
Thomas Catherine E.,
Mauer Elizabeth A.,
Shukla Alpana P.,
Rathi Samrat,
Aronne Louis J.
Publication year - 2016
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.21533
Subject(s) - phentermine , medicine , medical prescription , diabetes mellitus , pharmacotherapy , sibutramine , pharmacology , obesity , weight loss , endocrinology
Objective To characterize the adoption of antiobesity pharmacotherapies, as compared with that of the newest antidiabetes pharmacotherapy, subtype 2 sodium‐glucose transport protein inhibitors (SGLT2s), among prescribers in the United States. Methods A retrospective analysis of 2012 to 2015 data extracted from the IMS Health National Prescription Audit™ and Xponent™ assessed adoption rates of antiobesity pharmacotherapies and SGLT2s. Results The number of dispensed antidiabetes prescriptions was 15 times the number of dispensed antiobesity prescriptions. The antiobesity market share was: 74.0% phentermine, 18.6% new antiobesity pharmacotherapies. The mean increase in prescriptions/month were: 25,259 for SGLT2s, 5,154 for new antiobesity pharmacotherapies, and 2,718 for phentermine. Medical specialties prescribing the majority of the analysis medications were Family Medicine/General Practice and Internal Medicine. Endocrinology had the highest prevalence of prescribers of any subspecialty. Conclusions The adoption rate of SGLT2s was nearly exponential, while the adoption rate of new antiobesity pharmacotherapies was linear. Considering the relative prevalence of obesity to diabetes and that obesity is a major cause of diabetes, these results are paradoxical and suggest systematic barriers against the prescribing of antiobesity pharmacotherapies. The under‐prescribing of antiobesity pharmacotherapies is widely acknowledged, but this is the first prescription data of these new medications to demonstrate its extent in the United States.