Belleudi Valeria, Lopes Sara, Addis Antonio
Dipartimento di epidemiologia Asl Roma 1, Ssr Lazio.
Recenti Prog Med. 2024 Dec;115(12):593-598. doi: 10.1701/4392.43917.
In recent times, TikTok 'weight loss influencers' have been promoting the use of GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs, with particular emphasis on semaglutide. The popularity of this class of drugs has been amplified by the statements of Elon Musk, who publicly declared in October 2022 that he had lost weight thanks to Wegovy, a semaglutide-based medication launched in the US. In Italy, GLP-1 receptor agonists are mainly indicated for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, but in certain cases they can be prescribed off-label for obesity and overweight. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of Elon Musk's statements on the use of semaglutide within Regional Health Service of the Lazio Region.
Dispensations of GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs (ATC: A10BJ) within Regional Health Service in the Lazio Region between January 2022 and March 2023 were analysed, identifying those related to semaglutide (ATC: A10BJ06). Monthly time series data on new users (with a 1-year washout period) of semaglutide and other GLP-1 drugs were compared to identify any changes after October 2022. In addition, the proportion of patients for whom it was possible to verify the indication of diabetes through health administrative data was examined.
Analysis of the monthly trends for the entire class of GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs showed no difference in the monthly average of incident users between the pre and post Elon Musk statements. However, an increase in incident users was observed for semaglutide (monthly average: from 872 pre to 1,380 post) at the expense of the use of other drugs in the same class (monthly average: from 711 pre to 208 post). The proportion of semaglutide users for whom diabetes could not be confirmed remained stable over time at approximately 9.5%.
Elon Musk's statements seem to have had an impact on the use of semaglutide among patients in the Lazio region. Further analyses are necessary to carefully assess the presence of possible other factors influencing the preference for semaglutide over other GLP-1 receptor agonists.
近年来，TikTok上的“减肥网红”一直在推广使用胰高血糖素样肽-1（GLP-1）受体激动剂药物，尤其强调司美格鲁肽。埃隆·马斯克的言论进一步放大了这类药物的受欢迎程度，他在2022年10月公开宣称，由于使用了美国推出的基于司美格鲁肽的药物Wegovy，他成功减重。在意大利，GLP-1受体激动剂主要用于治疗2型糖尿病，但在某些情况下，也可用于肥胖和超重的非适应症用药。本研究的目的是评估埃隆·马斯克的言论对拉齐奥地区地方卫生服务机构中司美格鲁肽使用情况的影响。
分析了2022年1月至2023年3月期间拉齐奥地区地方卫生服务机构内GLP-1受体激动剂药物（解剖学治疗学化学分类代码：A10BJ）的配药情况，确定与司美格鲁肽（解剖学治疗学化学分类代码：A10BJ06）相关的配药。比较了司美格鲁肽和其他GLP-1药物新用户（有1年洗脱期）的月度时间序列数据，以确定2022年10月之后是否有任何变化。此外，还检查了通过卫生行政数据能够核实糖尿病适应症的患者比例。
对整个GLP-1受体激动剂药物类别的月度趋势分析表明，在埃隆·马斯克发表言论前后，新用户的月平均数量没有差异。然而，观察到司美格鲁肽的新用户有所增加（月平均：从之前的872例增至之后的1380例），代价是同一类中其他药物的使用（月平均：从之前的711例降至之后的208例）。随着时间的推移，无法确认患有糖尿病的司美格鲁肽使用者比例保持稳定，约为9.5%。
埃隆·马斯克的言论似乎对拉齐奥地区患者使用司美格鲁肽产生了影响。有必要进行进一步分析，以仔细评估是否存在其他可能影响患者对司美格鲁肽偏好超过其他GLP-1受体激动剂的因素。
