Semaglutide 2.4 mg shows high real-world patient satisfaction, compliance, and adherence in US obesity management
Background
Novel antiobesity medications have shown significant weight loss in clinical trials, but real-world data are crucial for understanding their effectiveness outside controlled settings. Obesity is a chronic, complex disease requiring long-term management, and adherence to treatment is a major challenge. Current standards often fall short in sustained weight loss and patient satisfaction, leading to a gap in understanding how costly incretin mimetics like semaglutide perform in diverse patient populations and inform health benefit design.
Study Design
This retrospective analysis used cross-sectional survey data from the Adelphi Real World Obesity US Disease Specific Programme to characterize treatment experiences, compliance, and adherence among 272 patients with obesity or overweight (PwO) receiving semaglutide 2.4 mg for weight management. Data included demographics, clinical characteristics, and treatment patterns from both patient and physician perspectives. Physician-reported compliance meant receiving ≥80% of the prescribed dose, and adherence meant consistency with medication use instructions. Patient-reported adherence was measured via the Adelphi Adherence Questionnaire (ADAQ). Logistic regressions identified factors associated with adherence and compliance.
Results
Among 272 PwO receiving semaglutide 2.4 mg, physicians reported 76% (n=188/246) as fully compliant (received ≥80% of prescribed dose) and 61% (n=153/251) as fully adherent. The mean ADAQ score was 0.34 (SD 0.53) among 90 patient respondents. Physicians perceived current treatment as successful for most PwO (74.8%, n=196/262), and a high proportion of PwO (89.6%, n=86) indicated they would recommend their current medication to others. Factors associated with compliance included motivation to lose weight, insurance coverage, type 2 diabetes status, and current/ex-smoker status. Factors associated with adherence included motivation to lose weight, age, and the number of obesity-related complications. These real-world data highlight strong positive perceptions and consistent use of semaglutide 2.4 mg in a diverse patient cohort. > Motivation to lose weight was a significant factor associated with both compliance and adherence to semaglutide 2.4 mg treatment.
Why It Matters
This real-world data provides crucial insights into the practical application and patient experience with semaglutide 2.4 mg, moving beyond controlled clinical trial settings. High patient satisfaction and adherence suggest that semaglutide 2.4 mg can be effectively integrated into broader obesity management strategies. Understanding factors like insurance coverage and motivation can help clinicians tailor support, potentially improving long-term outcomes. This information is vital for health benefit design and for setting realistic patient expectations, reinforcing the value of incretin mimetics in chronic weight management and supporting its broader adoption.