ArticleObesity science & practice2020
The cost-effectiveness of pharmacotherapy and lifestyle intervention in the treatment of obesity.
Article in Obesity science & practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04614545 (The Use of a Virtual Weight Management Program for Prescription of Phentermine in Patients With Overweight or Obesity Compared to Standard Face to Face Visits), which is not on this map. Cited by 33 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Use of a Virtual Weight Management Program for Prescription of Phentermine in Patients With Overweight or Obesity Compared to Standard Face to Face Visits
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- GLP-1 receptor agonists for treating obesity without diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of economic evaluations.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2026Pooled it
- Cost-effectiveness of endoscopic treatments for obesity: a clinical evidence map and systematic review to inform a model-based cost-effectiveness analysis.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Pooled it
- The cost-effectiveness analysis of semaglutide for the treatment of adult and adolescent patients with overweight and obesity: a systematic review.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Pharmacoeconomic evaluation of anti-obesity drugs for chronic weight management: a systematic review of literature.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Pooled it
- Randomized Controlled Trial Based US Commercial Payor Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty Versus Lifestyle Modification Alone for Adults With Class I/II Obesity.Obesity surgery · 2024Trial
- The use of virtual visits for obesity pharmacotherapy in patients with overweight or obesity compared with in-person encounters.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2022Trial
- Predictive models of adverse outcomes of overweight or obesity: a nationwide cohort validation.BMC endocrine disorders · 2026Article
- Article
- Development of a silkworms-based evaluation system for the extracts and compounds for their obesity and lipid metabolism improving activity.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Effects from treating moderate- to high-risk obesity patients with anti-obesity medication from a societal perspective.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Cost-effectiveness analysis of duodenal-jejunal bypass sleeve device for people with obesity.Health economics review · 2025Article
- Individual and joint associations of obesity and metabolic health parameters on arterial stiffness: Evidence from the UK Biobank.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2025Article
- Economic Evaluation of Medications in Prevention and Treatment of Obesity: A Systematic Review.International journal of preventive medicine · 2025Review
- Semaglutide vs Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty for Weight Loss.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Phentermine in the Modern Era of Obesity Pharmacotherapy: Does It Still Have a Role in Treatment?Current obesity reports · 2024Review
- Weight Loss Treatment and Longitudinal Weight Change Among Primary Care Patients With Obesity.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- EXIST: EXamining rIsk of excesS adiposiTy-Machine learning to predict obesity-related complications.Obesity science & practice · 2024Article
- Therapeutic Advances in Obesity: How Real-World Evidence Impacts Affordability Beyond Standard of Care.Pragmatic and observational research · 2024Review
- Comparison of the Efficacy of Anti-Obesity Medications in Real-World Practice.Drug design, development and therapy · 2024Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe Food and Drug Administration has approved several pharmacotherapies for the treatment of obesity. This study assesses the cost-effectiveness of six pharmacotherapies and lifestyle intervention for people with mild obesity (body mass indices [BMIs] 30 to 35).
methodsA microsimulation model was constructed to compare seven weight loss strategies plus no treatment: intensive lifestyle intervention, orlistat, phentermine, phentermine/topiramate, lorcaserin, liraglutide, and semaglutide. Weight loss, quality-of-life scores, and costs were estimated using clinical trials and other published literature. Endpoints included costs, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) with a willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of $100 000/QALY. Results were analysed at 1-, 3-, and 5-year time horizons.
resultsAt each of the three follow-up periods, phentermine was the cost-effective strategy, with ICERs of $46 258/QALY, $20 157/QALY, and $17 880/QALY after 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. Semaglutide was the most effective strategy in the 3- and 5-year time horizons, with total QALYs of 2.224 and 3.711, respectively. However, the ICERs were prohibitively high at $1 437 340/QALY after 3 years and $576 931/QALY after 5 years. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses indicated these results were robust.
conclusionsPhentermine is the cost-effective pharmacologic weight-loss strategy. Although semaglutide is the most effective, it is not cost-effective because of its high price.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.