Long-Term Assessment of Weight Loss Medications in a Veteran Population

Overweight and obesity are common in the veteran population. Medical management with semaglutide, orlistat, liraglutide, phentermine, phentermine/topiramate, and naltrexone/bupropion is increasingly common. This study expands on a 2021 study and evaluates medication effectiveness.

This single-center retrospective study analyzed patients prescribed weight loss medications at Veteran Health Indiana. Primary outcomes included body weight loss and total weight loss with each medication at 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 months. Secondary outcomes were also used to determine the efficacy of the current weight loss medications.

Of 105 included patients, 66 were treated with liraglutide, 30 with phentermine/topiramate, 5 with naltrexone/bupropion, 3 with orlistat, and 1 with phentermine. The absolute weight loss for all medications was 10.6 kg over the patient-specific duration of weight management therapy. The mean body weight loss was 9.2%. There were no statistically significant differences in primary or secondary outcomes between liraglutide and phentermine/topiramate. The group sizes were too small to analyze the other medication groups.

Patients in this study lost weight while using medications. However, there were no statistically significant differences among the medications. Patients did not receive uniformly consistent follow-up care, suggesting the need for more standardized processes that could lead to better weight loss outcomes.