Poster Presentation Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society Annual Scientific Conference 2023

Overweight and obesity in Australian primary care settings: data from the multi-national study IMPACT-O (#244)

Rachel S Newson 1 , Aaron Wang 1 , Helen Barraclough 1 , Erik Spaepen 2 , Ken L Chin 3 , Xiaoyu Lin 3 , Sarah Seager 3 , Esther Artime 4
  1. Eli Lilly and Company, Sydney, Australia
  2. HaaPACS GmbH, Schriesheim, Germany
  3. IQVIA, London, United Kingdom
  4. Eli Lilly and Company, Alcobendas, Spain

Objective: To describe the profile of people with overweight/obesity in primary care settings and understand general practitioner (GP) treatment pathways in Australia.

Methods: The EpIdeMiology Landscape and PAtient Care paThways of Obesity (IMPACT-O) Study was a multinational retrospective cohort study that used electronic medical records and claims databases standardised to the Observed Medical Outcomes Partnership Common Data Model. Here we report data from the Australian electronic medical records (EMR) database containing anonymized patient clinical records collected by GPs (data cut-off date: April 2023). The number of adults with overweight/obesity based on diagnosis codes and/or body mass index [BMI] between 2018–2022 were estimated. Baseline BMI categories, and comorbidities were described for the prevalent cohort (adults with ≥1 BMI record of ≥25.0 kg/m2 and ≥12 months observation before the index date [highest BMI record]). Weight loss interventions during the study period were also described.

Results: In the Australian EMR database, 41,533 adults had ≥1 BMI measurement and/or diagnosis code for overweight/obesity; 7,653 (18.4%) had formal diagnosis codes. The prevalent cohort consisted of 25,625 adults, 45.7% of these had overweight/pre-obesity, 29.9% class I obesity, 14.5% class II obesity, and 9.9% class III obesity. 68.2% presented with ≥1 comorbidity and 48.4% with ≥2 comorbidities; these proportions increased with increasing BMI categories. Main comorbidities were hypertension (44.8%), dyslipidaemia (31.0%), type 2 diabetes (16.6), and osteoarthritis (11.4%). Among 178 subjects with a weight loss intervention, 131 (73.6%) used glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, 44 (24.7%) Orlistat, 2 had other treatments, and 1 had bariatric surgery.

Conclusion: Although it is estimated that many people with overweight/obesity are presenting at Australian GPs, only a small number could be formally identified with overweight/obesity. More than half of the identified people with overweight/obesity presented with ≥1 comorbidity. A very small number had weight reduction interventions documented.