Socioeconomic status and use of obesogenic and antiobesity medications in the United States: A population-based study

Background The Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guidelines recommend the avoidance of medications that may cause weight gain (i.e., obesogenic medications) in individuals with overweight or obesity. Obesity disproportionately affects people with lower socioeconomic status (SES); however, it is unknown whether the use of obesogenic medications differs by SES. Methods We included adults with overweight or obesity and used prescription medications from2009-2018 of the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We examined the associations between a composite measure of SES and use of obesogenic medications and anti-obesity medications. The composite SES included = 2 points [low]). Findings Among 10,673 US adults with overweight or obesity, 20.0% had low SES. Use of obesogenic medications was common (37.7%). Low (vs. high) SES was associated with greater obesogenic medication use, independent of demographic characteristics, prescription medication burden, and comorbidities (OR 1.3 [1.2-1.5]). Among 12,133 eligible participants, utilization of anti-obesity medications was very low overall (0.5%) and within all SES groups (low 0.27%, intermediate 0.71, and high 0.65%). Interpretation Our findings highlight common and modifiable risk factors for obesity. Clinicians should screen patient medications for those that may cause weight gain and increase adoption of anti-obesity medications, especially among adults living in low SES. Copyright (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)