ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacoepidemiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1510554
This article is part of the Research TopicNew Trends in Managing Obesity in Primary CareView all 3 articles
Barriers to glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists used for obesity management among the general population in Tabuk City, Saudi Arabia
Provisionally accepted
- University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
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Background: Obesity is a chronic inflammatory disease with high morbidity that is decidedly prevalent worldwide and in Saudi Arabia. Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 agonists) are broadly used for the management of diabetes and obesity. We aimed to assess barriers to GLP-1 agonist use among the general population in Saudi Arabia and their association with smoking and antidepressants use.This cross-sectional study was conducted in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia from January to October 2024 using a structured questionnaire based on age, sex, lifestyle, GLP-1 agonists, antidepressant use, source of information regarding GLP-1 agonists, type of injection, smoking status, and whether smoking frequency/amount decreased following GLP-1 agonists use. Results: out of the 481 participants, 28.4%, and 30.7% were on regular exercise and a healthy diet respectively, and 21.8% were using GLP-1 agonists of them, 54.5%, and 42.7% interrupted their GLP-1 agonists due to shortage/cost and side effects. Semaglutide was the most common GLP-1 agonist used (13.7%). No significant associations were found between GLP-1 agonist use, age, smoking, and depression (odds ratio, 0.978, 1.073, and 0.770, respectively). A significant association was found with gender, BMI, diet, and exercise.GLP-1 agonist uptake was relatively low, the majority of patients used GLP-1 agonists for weight reduction and not for comorbidities. More than half interrupted their intake due to cost/unavailability. Semaglutide was the most commonly prescribed medication. No significant associations were found between GLP-1 agonists use, age, smoking, and antidepressant medication use, a significant association was found with females, BMI, diet, and exercise.
Keywords: Obesity, barriers, GLP-1 agonists, Nicotine, Antidepressant use
Received: 29 Nov 2024; Accepted: 17 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Alhowiti, Mirghani, Albalawi and Aljohani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Amirah Alhowiti, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
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