More than 39 million U.S. adults qualify for indications other than weight management alone
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2024 (HealthDay News) — More than half of all U.S. adults are eligible for semaglutide therapy, according to a research letter published online Nov. 18 in JAMA Cardiology to coincide with the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2024, held from Nov. 16 to 18 in Chicago.
Ivy Shi, M.D., from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues used data from 25,531 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2015 to March 2020) to quantify the number of U.S. adults eligible for semaglutide. Eligibility criteria included: (1) diabetes; (2) weight management (body mass index [BMI] ≥30 kg/m2 or BMI ≥27 kg/m2 with a weight-related comorbidity [hypertension, hyperlipidemia, or history of myocardial infarction or stroke]); and (3) secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD; aged 45 years or older, BMI ≥27 kg/m2, and a history of myocardial infarction or stroke).
The researchers found that semaglutide was indicated for an estimated 35.0 million adults for diabetes management, 129.2 million adults for weight management, and 8.9 million adults for secondary prevention of CVD. Of the 39.3 million U.S. adults eligible for semaglutide for diabetes or secondary prevention of CVD, 13.0 million were insured by Medicare and 4.7 million were insured by Medicaid.
“Efforts to increase equitable uptake should be coupled with strategies to ensure that the cost of semaglutide is commensurate with the value of the health benefits it produces,” the authors write.
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