Semaglutide shows promise for smoking cessation
Patients taking semaglutide were less likely to have a medical encounter that included a diagnosis of tobacco use disorder than patients taking any of seven other diabetes medications, a retrospective study found.
New use of semaglutide was associated with a lower risk for medical care related to tobacco use disorder compared with seven other diabetes medications, a study of smokers with type 2 diabetes found.
Researchers used a target trial emulation framework to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of semaglutide compared to seven other diabetes medications, including other glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, on tobacco-related health care measures. The study compared 222,942 new users of diabetes medications, including 5,967 taking semaglutide. Results were published July 30 by Annals of Internal Medicine.
Semaglutide was associated with a lower risk for smoking-related health care use, including that which would indicate smoking cessation efforts, as well as with a significantly lower risk for medical encounters with a tobacco use disorder diagnosis compared with other diabetes medications, most significantly versus insulin (hazard ratio [HR], 0.68; 95% CI, 0.63 to 0.74).
The weakest, but statistically significant, difference was compared with other GLP-1 receptor agonists (HR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.81 to 0.96). Similar effects were observed in subpopulations without and with obesity; results were seen primarily within 30 days of prescription.
While the findings were consistent with the hypothesis that semaglutide might benefit smoking cessation, study limitations including documentation bias and missing data on current smoking behavior, body mass index, and medication adherence preclude firm conclusions, the study authors said.
The study also had a risk of residual confounding, particularly since “those who quit smoking may gain weight, and this population of recent quitters may disproportionately comprise those on semaglutide,” the study authors said. The results should not be interpreted to justify off-label use of semaglutide for smoking cessation, they advised. Future clinical trials should evaluate semaglutide's potential for tobacco use disorder, the authors recommended.