Introduction: Obesity is a serious chronic, progressive metabolic disorder associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Compared with individuals of healthy weight, those living with overweight/obesity are at higher risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Given the established relationship between obesity and ASCVD, individuals living with overweight/obesity and ASCVD may gain additional benefits by directly treating obesity. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that comorbidity burden is higher in adults living with overweight/obesity and ASCVD than in those without ASCVD. Methods: This was a retrospective real-world study using Optum Market Clarity, a linked electronic medical record and administrative health care claims data set. Adults living with overweight and ≥1 weight-related comorbidity or obesity were included. The point prevalence of ASCVD was described for the overall study period (1/1/2017 to 6/30/2021). Stratified prevalence analyses were conducted by age group (ie, ≤45 years, 45-64 years, and ≥65 years). Comorbidity burden was assessed as percentage of patients with weight-related comorbidities. Results: The study encompassed 4,773,152 patients eligible for prescription weight management treatment; 245,824 (5.3%) had been diagnosed with ASCVD. Over the study period of 2017-2021, with a median (Q1-Q3) follow-up time of 43.7 (29.0-57.2) months, peripheral arterial disease was the most prevalent (2.5%) ASCVD condition among these patients, followed by ischemic heart disease (2.2%) and ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke (1.3%). Yearly prevalence of peripheral arterial disease, ischemic heart disease, and ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke within the study period ranged from 2.3%-3.8%, 2.0%-3.2%, and 1.2%-1.8%, respectively. These patients, compared with those without ASCVD, had a mean age of 63.8 vs 49.4 years and mean BMI of 33.4 vs 34.7 kg/m 2 , and 52.7% vs 40.8% were male (all P <.001). The prevalence of ASCVD increased with age: patients aged ≥65 years had an overall prevalence of 14.1%, with yearly prevalence ranging from 13.3%-18.8%, compared with 5.5% in patients aged 45 to 64 years, with yearly prevalence ranging from 5.2%-7.8%. Overall, patients with ASCVD had a higher comorbidity burden than patients without ASCVD, including type 2 diabetes (49.7% vs 17.6%), prediabetes (15.5% vs 9.0%), dyslipidemia (75.6% vs 30.4%), obstructive sleep apnea (22.3% vs 10.2%), and chronic kidney disease (21.1% vs 3.7%; all P <.001). Conclusions: ASCVD is prevalent among people living with overweight/obesity, to a greater extent in older and male individuals. People living with ASCVD and overweight/obesity bear a substantially higher comorbidity burden compared with those without ASCVD. Further evidence is needed to support pharmacotherapy-based chronic weight management to lower the cardiovascular disease burden in this population.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Desai et al. (2024) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: