A nationwide population-based study on prescribing trends published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found a significant increase in new users of GLP-1 receptor agonists who don’t have a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. The proportion of new GLP-1 users with type 2 diabetes decreased from nearly 90% to about 70% from 2019 to 2023, according to a separate analysis of the findings in MedPage Today. Meanwhile, new users tend to be those prescribed the medications for weight management. The proportion of prescriptions for those without diabetes but with a high body mass index increased from about 10% to 25%.
Who has new GLP-1 prescriptions? According to the study, new users of GLP-1 drugs were disproportionately female and white, with a BMI of 30 or greater.