Treatment with semaglutide has been shown to reduce the total number of hospital admissions and the duration of stays in patients with established cardiovascular disease (CVD) and overweight or obesity, extending its potential beyond cardiovascular risk reduction.
Semaglutide to Treat Cardiovascular Disease
Semaglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist that has previously been shown to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events. The primary analysis of the SELECT randomised clinical trial observed that semaglutide reduced rates of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and strokes in patients with CVD and obesity or overweight, without diabetes. Consequently, semaglutide has become a crucial tool for cardiologists to reduce the risk of patients at high cardiovascular risk.
This study analysed the SELECT randomised clinical trial data to explore whether the benefits of semaglutide could be extended, by reducing the number and duration of hospital stays in patients at high cardiovascular risk with overweight or obesity.
Semaglutide Reduces Number and Duration of Hospitalisations
The SELECT trial included a total of 17 604 patients aged 45 years or older with established cardiovascular disease and a BMI of 27 or higher, without diabetes. Patients received either 2.4 mg of subcutaneous semaglutide once a week, or placebo.
The number of total hospitalisations and number of days hospitalised for any indication, per 100 patient-years, was lower in the semaglutide group than placebo: 18.3 vs 20.4 admissions, and 157.2 vs 176.2 days. The same pattern was observed for serious adverse events: 15.2 vs 17.1 admissions, and 137.6 vs 153.9 days.
The Future of Cardiovascular Disease
The results suggest that treatment once weekly with semaglutide could help to reduce the frequency and duration of hospital admissions for patients at high cardiovascular risk with overweight or obesity.
This broadens the benefits of semaglutide as a cardiovascular treatment beyond just risk reduction to reducing the patient burden on hospitals, with shorter and less frequent hospitalisations. This could be a factor for clinicians to consider when assessing treatment options.
Reference
Nicholls SJ et al. Semaglutide and hospitalizations in patients with obesity and established cardiovascular disease: an exploratory analysis of the SELECT randomized clinical trial. JAMA Cardiol 2025;doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2025.4824.
