Evaluation of weight change and cardiometabolic risk factors in a real-world population of US adults with overweight or obesity

Whether individuals in real-world settings are able to lose weight and improve cardiometabolic risk factors over time is unclear. We aimed to determine the management of and degree of body weight change over 2 years among individuals with overweight or obesity, and to assess associated changes in cardiometabolic risk factors and clinical outcomes. Using data from 11 large health systems within the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Network in the U.S., we collected the following data on adults with a recorded BMI ≥25 kg/m² between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016: body-mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL[sbnd]C), triglycerides and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). We found that among 882,712 individuals with BMI ≥25 kg/m² (median age 59 years; 56% female), 52% maintained stable weight over 2 years and 1.3% utilized weight loss pharmacotherapy. Weight loss of 10% was associated with small but significant lowering of mean SBP (−2.69 mmHg [95% CI -2.88, −2.50]), DBP (−1.26 mmHg [95% CI -1.35, −1.18]), LDL-C (−2.60 mg/dL [95% CI -3.14, −2.05]), and HbA1c (−0.27% [95% CI -0.35, −0.19]) in the same 12 months. However, these changes were not sustained over the following year. In this study of adults with BMI ≥25 kg/m², the majority had stable weight over 2 years, pharmacotherapies for weight loss were under-used, and small changes in cardiometabolic risk factors with weight loss were not sustained, possibly due to failure to maintain weight loss.