Review of cost-effectiveness

Published September 12, 2017

Researchers from Duke University and Duke NUS Medical School compared clinically proven, nonsurgical weight-loss treatments for people who are overweight and obese, including meal replacement programs (Jenny Craig), lifestyle programs (WW), medications (Qsymia, Alli, Xenical, Belviq , Contrave, Saxenda), and intragastric balloon (Orbera). Their 2019 meta-analysis, published in Clinical Obesity, reported the finding that WW Workshops are the only cost-effective, commercially available, evidence-based option.

Cost ($) Mean
(95% CI)
Effectiveness
Mean
(95% CI)
ACER ($) Mean
(95% CI)
WW Workshops424 (321-533)3.2 (2.2 - 4.05)134 (92-204)
Qsymia 7.5/462194 (1627-2743)6.7 (6.1-7.3)327 (245-422)
Alli 60 mg x 3 daily615 (470-764)2.5 (1.5-3.4)251 (157-429)
Xenical 120 mg x 3 daily6164 (4538-7601)3.0 (2.4-3.6)2028 (1472-2809)
Contrave 8mg/90mg x 4 daily2498 (1921-3140)4.6 (4.2-5.0)541 (389-689)
Saxenda 3mg11644 (8820-14322)5.5 (5.2-5.9)2102 (1548-2648)
Belviq 10 mg x 2 daily2658 (2054-3295)3.2 (2.6 - 3.8)823 (588-1112)
Jenny Craig3301 (2499-4101)7.4 (5.8 - 9.0)444 (318-633)
Obera6500 (4867-8081)4.4 (3.0-5.8)1467 (978-2266)

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