Half Discontinue Semaglutide for Weight Loss Within One Year
TUESDAY, Sept. 16, 2025 -- Half of adults who start semaglutide for weight loss discontinue within a year, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, held from Sept. 15 to 19 in Vienna.
Aurélie Mailhac, from Aarhus University in Denmark, and colleagues examined the likelihood of and factors associated with discontinuation of semaglutide for weight loss in Denmark. The analysis included 77,310 adults without diabetes initiating semaglutide for weight loss from Dec. 1, 2022, to Oct. 1, 2023.
The researchers found that half of individuals (52 percent) stopped treatment within one year, with 18 percent stopping within three months, 31 percent within six months, and 42 percent within nine months. Younger users (risk ratio [RR], 1.48 for 18 to 30 years versus 45 to 60 years old) and men (RR, 1.12 versus women) had increased an likelihood of discontinuation. Additionally, one-year discontinuation was higher for people who had previously used gastrointestinal (RR, 1.09) or psychiatric medications (RR, 1.12), who had preexisting cardiovascular disease (RR, 1.11) or a Charlson comorbidity index score >3 (RR, 1.09), and who lived in a low- versus high-income municipality (RR, 1.14).
"These results are new and shed light on the reasons for high rates of early discontinuation of semaglutide for weight loss in a real-world setting," lead author Reimar W. Thomsen, also from Aarhus University, said in a statement. "With over half of adults in Europe living with overweight or obesity, understanding who may benefit most from interventions that encourage adherence is essential to improving treatment use and subsequent health outcomes and quality of life."
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
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