Study Finds 9 of 10 Patients Did Not Fill Prescription for Antiobesity Medications

Among 1563 real-world patients prescribed an antiobesity medication, just 139 patients filled the prescription, according to a poster abstract presented at the AMCP 2023 in San Antonio, Texas, March 21-24, 2023.

“Primary nonadherence to antiobesity medications was 91%, much higher than other chronic disease treatments,” researchers wrote, “justifying targeted policy and clinical interventions to improve primary adherence to new antiobesity medication prescriptions.”

The study included 1563 patients who were newly prescribed an antiobesity medication between January 2011 and April 2019. Researchers used administrative claims linked with electronic health records to determine if the prescriptions were filled within 60 days and also investigated factors associated with not filling the prescription, which they defined as primary nonadherence. 

The rate of primary nonadherence overall was 91.1%, the study found. Among specific antiobesity drugs, rates of primary nonadherence were 93.8% for phentermine-topiramate, 92.4% for lorcaserin, 90.7% for naltrexone-bupropion, 90.5% for orlistat, and 84.5% for liraglutide.

When researchers compared demographic and clinical characteristics of patients who filled and did not fill prescriptions, they found depression and living in the South were significantly associated with primary nonadherence. Odds ratios for not filling an antiobesity drug prescription were 3.8 for patients who lived in the South and 2.1 for patients with depression, according to the study. 

Enrollment in Medicare Advantage was marginally associated with not filling a prescription. Researchers reported an odds ratio of 2.0 for primary nonadherence with Medicare Advantage enrollment. 

Eli Lilly and Company sponsored the study.

Reference:

Kan H , Gronroos N, Bae J, et al. Factors associated with real-world primary nonadherence to antiobesity medications. J Manag Care Spec Pharm. 2023;29(10-a suppl):S1-S137. https://www.jmcp.org/pb-assets/Poster%20Abstract%20Supplements/AMCP2023_PosterAbstractSupplement_0317-1679318682267.pdf