Overview

• Using Danish registries, researchers tracked 77,310 adults who initiated semaglutide from December 2022 to October 2023 and found 18% stopped by three months, 31% by six months, and 42% by nine months.
• Younger adults aged 18–29 were 48% more likely to discontinue than those 45–59, and men were 12% more likely to stop than women.
• People living in low-income areas were 14% more likely to quit, aligning with high out-of-pocket costs estimated at about €2,000 per year for the lowest dose in Denmark.
• Prior use of gastrointestinal or psychiatric medications, as well as cardiovascular or other chronic conditions, was linked to higher dropout, pointing to tolerability and health-status factors.
• Authors noted missing data on BMI, individual costs, side effects, and post-initiation weight change; separate late-stage trials reported a 7.2 mg semaglutide dose increased average weight loss but produced more gastrointestinal events.