The overall cohort included 10,193 individuals who had received at least one tirzepatide prescription.
Among individuals with body mass index (BMI) data, 5931 were eligible for anti-obesity medication.
Most individuals (95.6%) were started on tirzepatide doses of 5 mg or less.
At the fifth prescription refill, 91.1% of individuals were receiving doses of 10 mg or less.
Tirzepatide adherence at 6 months was 55.5%, while persistence was 54.2%.
Of those who discontinued tirzepatide, 10.1% switched to an alternative anti-obesity medication.
The majority of individuals in the anti-obesity medication-eligible cohort had one or more obesity-related complications.
Simplified
AIMS: To understand real-world tirzepatide use among individuals without type 2 diabetes (T2D) diagnoses in a US electronic health record (EHR) database.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective, descriptive, cohort study used Veradigm's® Network EHR database linked with administrative claims. Adults (≥18 years) included had ≥1 tirzepatide prescription (index period: 13 May 2022-31 August 2023); continuous medical and pharmacy enrolment for ≥12 months pre-index; and no T2D diagnosis or baseline T2D medications except metformin (overall cohort). 'Anti-obesity medication (AOM)-eligible cohort' included individuals with body mass index (BMI) ≥30 or ≥27 kg/mand ≥1 obesity-related complication (ORC) and ≥6 months of continuous post-index enrollment. 2
RESULTS: The overall cohort included 10,193 individuals (mean age: 45.0 years; female: 77.1%). Among 6623 individuals with BMI data, 5931 were AOM-eligible. Of these, 3470 had 6-month follow-up data (; ≥1 ORC: 76.5%; ≥2 ORCs: 51.8%). Treatment patterns at 6 months were assessed among 755 individuals with complete claims data in the AOM-eligible cohort. Most individuals (95.6%) were initiated on a tirzepatide dose of ≤5 mg. At the fifth prescription refill (n = 448), 91.1% were receiving tirzepatide doses of ≤10 mg. At 6 months, tirzepatide adherence was 55.5% and persistence was 54.2%. Among discontinued individuals (n = 346), 10.1% switched to an alternate AOM.
CONCLUSIONS: Majority of individuals in the AOM-eligible cohort had ≥1 ORC, and half had ≥2 ORCs, indicating that in this study cohort tirzepatide was being used in people with multimorbidity. Tirzepatide dose escalation in this real-world cohort was slower than in clinical trials, which may have implications for its real-world effectiveness.
Key numbers
55.5%
Adherence Rate
Percentage of individuals in the adherent to treatment at 6 months.
10,193
Overall Cohort Size
Total number of individuals who initiated without a T2D diagnosis.
91.1%
Dose Distribution at Fifth Refill
Percentage of individuals receiving doses of ≤10 mg by the fifth .
Full Text
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Theresa Hunter Gibble, Chanadda Chinthammit, Jennifer M. Ward, Birong Liao, and Emily R. Hankosky: Employment and stockholder, Eli Lilly and Company. Katherine Cappell and Machaon Bonafede: Employment and stockholder, Veradigm. Robert Sedgley: Employment, Veradigm.
