Liraglutide in Adults With Obesity: A Multicentre, Single-Arm, Post-Marketing Surveillance Study in Taiwan

This prospective study (NCT06283641) was the first real-world, multicentre, post-marketing surveillance of GLP-1 receptor agonist liraglutide as an adjunct for weight management in adults with obesity in Taiwan.

Data were collected from 14 sites at baseline, week 13 and week 26 (February 2024-January 2025). Safety and effectiveness outcomes, including adverse event (AE) incidence proportions (IPs) and body weight (BW) change, were investigated.

Among 259 adults, 61.0% were female (mean ± SD age 42.6 ± 11.3 years, BW 90.4 ± 17.6 kg, BMI 33.0 ± 4.7 kg/m²). Dyslipidaemia (38.2%), hypertension (26.3%), and diabetes (21.2%) were common. Mean daily and maximum doses were 1.4 ± 0.5 and 1.8 ± 0.7 mg/day, respectively. Overall IP of AEs was 11.2%; 90.9% of events were mild. General/injection-site and gastrointestinal events were most frequent. Medication cost (49.0%) was the predominant factor for dose non-escalation. At weeks 13 and 26, mean BW loss was -5.7 ± 3.5 and -8.5 ± 5.7 kg (both p < 0.0001; ≥ 5% BW loss in 58.4% and 76.7%) and mean systolic blood pressure decrease was 9.0 ± 16.7 and 10.4 ± 18.9 mmHg, respectively.

Liraglutide at < 3.0 mg/day was well-tolerated, with BW reduction observed over 26 weeks in Taiwanese adults. Medication cost is a barrier to long-term obesity management and a significant consideration for health policies in Taiwan.