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Review
. 2024 Aug 6:15:139-149.
doi: 10.2147/POR.S471476. eCollection 2024.

Therapeutic Advances in Obesity: How Real-World Evidence Impacts Affordability Beyond Standard of Care

Dimitrios Patoulias  1   2 , Theocharis Koufakis  2 , Ieva Ruža  3 , Mohamed El-Tanani  4 , Manfredi Rizzo  5
Affiliations
Review

Therapeutic Advances in Obesity: How Real-World Evidence Impacts Affordability Beyond Standard of Care

Dimitrios Patoulias et al. Pragmat Obs Res. .

Abstract

Obesity is currently considered a global epidemic, with rising prevalence worldwide and rather pessimistic projections. Based on its close interconnection with various co-morbidities, such as diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease, obesity is associated with significant increases in morbidity and mortality, while it also poses a substantial economic burden for national healthcare systems. Apparently, the majority of individuals classified as obese do not achieve adequate weight loss with the adoption of a healthy lifestyle intervention, including dietary modification and physical activity. Fortunately, during the last decade, a significant progress in pharmacotherapy of obesity has been observed, with the introduction of agents that have gained approval from regulatory authorities, namely semaglutide, liraglutide and tirzepatide, due to their impressive results in body weight reduction, alongside their beneficial, pleiotropic effects. The aim of the present review article is to discuss on evidence retrieved from real-world studies regarding the efficacy of those agents in obesity treatment, with emphasis on cost-effectiveness data, towards an effort to tackle efficiently the progression of obesity epidemic.

Keywords: body weight; cost-effectiveness; liraglutide; obesity; semaglutide; tirzepatide.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Main challenges to tackle against the ongoing obesity epidemic.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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