The relationship between BMI and the prescription of anti-obesity medication according to social factors: a population cross sectional study

BMC Public Health

Dermot O’Reilly¹  Carmel Hughes²  Frank Kee¹  Lynsey Patterson¹ 

[1] Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT12 6BJ, Northern Ireland;School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland

关键词: Multi-level modelling;    Obesity;    Weight loss;    Socioeconomic factors;    Anti-obesity agents;    General practice;   

Others  :  1161297
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-14-87

 received in 2013-10-01, accepted in 2014-01-27,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Obesity is a global public health problem. There are a range of treatments available with varying short and long term success rates. One option is the use of anti-obesity medication the prescription of which has increased dramatically in recent years. Despite this, little is known about the individual and GP practice factors that influence the prescription of anti-obesity medication.

Methods

Multi-level logistic regression analysis was used to investigate factors associated with the prescription of anti-obesity medication in Northern Ireland using a population primary care prescribing database (~1.5 million people aged 16+ years) during 2009/10.

Results

While 25.0% of people are obese, only 1.3% (2.1% of females, 0.6% of males) received anti-obesity medication. The relationship between medication rates and age differed by gender (P < 0.001) with prescriptions higher in younger females and older males. Prescribing of anti-obesity medication reflected obesity prevalence across urban/rural areas and deprivation. There was an unexplained two-fold difference, between the 25^th and 75^th percentile, in the GP practice prescription of anti-obesity medication.

Conclusions

There is evidence of relative under-prescribing in males compared to females despite a similar prevalence of obesity. While the prevalence (and presumably the health consequences) of obesity worsens with age, younger females are more likely to be prescribed anti-obesity medication. This suggests an element of patient demand. Educational material to improve the understanding of the role of anti-obesity medication, for patients and practitioners, is recommended. But further study is needed to understand the factors responsible for the variation in prescribing between GP practices.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Patterson et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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