The Study
Changes in Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Health Care Expenditures Among Patients Prescribed Semaglutide
This study watched what happened to people after they got a new medicine called semaglutide, but didn’t randomly give it to some and not others. So we can say people who took it tended to lose weight and have better numbers, but we can’t be sure the medicine caused it — maybe they were already trying harder to get healthy.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at what happened to people's health and medical bills after they started taking semaglutide, a popular weight-loss drug.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 559 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The health improvements are real but small — like losing a few pounds and lowering blood pressure a bit — while the cost increase suggests more doctor visits or hospital stays, not fewer.
- 2People lost about 4% of their body weight, had slightly lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and better blood sugar control — but their medical bills (not counting the drug) went up by $80 per month.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
JAMA Network Open
Year
2025
Authors
Yuan Lu, Yuntian Liu, Tedi Totojani, Chungsoo Kim, R. Khera, Hua Xu, John E Brush, H. Krumholz, Jason Abaluck
Related Content
Claims (6)
When older adults are prescribed GLP-1 agonists, the total cost of their prescription medications increases for Medicare.
Adults who start taking semaglutide, whether or not they have type 2 diabetes, experience a 12.8 mg/dL decrease in total cholesterol levels after 13 to 24 months of use.
Among patients with type 2 diabetes, starting semaglutide is linked to a 0.3% decrease in hemoglobin A1c levels when measured between 13 and 24 months after treatment begins.
When adults start taking semaglutide, their healthcare costs (not including the drug itself) rise by $80 per month on average over 13 to 24 months, mainly because they use more hospital services for heart and metabolic issues.
Adults who start taking semaglutide experience a small decrease in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure over 13 to 24 months.
Adults taking semaglutide for 13 to 24 months lose an average of 3.8% of their body weight, with those without type 2 diabetes losing 5.1% on average.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.