– Among the most popular diet programs and drugs, Weight Watchers trims the most bulge for the buck, according to a new cost-effectiveness analysis.
by Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
July 23, 2014
Among the most popular diet programs and drugs, Weight Watchers trims the most bulge for the buck, according to a new cost-effectiveness analysis.
The incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) was $34,630 for Weight Watchers, well under the commonly accepted threshold of $50,000, Eric Finkelstein, PhD, of Duke University, and colleagues reported in the journal Obesity.
“Looking at cost per weight lost or QALY saved, Weight Watchers looked best because it’s the least expensive,” Finkelstein said in a statement. “Qsymia [phentermine/topiramate] also showed good value for the money because the additional weight loss came at a fairly low cost.”
He and colleagues conducted the analysis because more insurers have been considering coverage of weight-loss drugs and diets given the increasing health and cost burden of obesity. Yet little information exists as to how pricey the incremental health benefits of the various strategies are.
In their review of 27 studies, the researchers looked at three diets and three drugs: Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and VTrim, and Qsymia, Belviq (lorcaserin), and orlistat (Xenical, Alli).
Annual costs of the diet programs ranged from $377 per year with Weight Watchers to $682 with VTrim and $2,512 with Jenny Craig (which was the priciest because of the cost of meals). Among the medications, Qsymia was the cheapest at $1,336 per year, followed by orlistat at $1,518 and Belviq at $1,743.
Among the diets, patients lost the most weight with Jenny Craig (16 pounds/year), followed by 7 pounds with Vtrim and 5 pounds with Weight Watchers. Qsymia offered the greatest weight loss among the diet drugs, at 15 pounds per year, followed by Belviq at 7 pounds and orlistat at 6 pounds.
The researchers then calculated the cost per kilogram of weight lost for each intervention, finding a range of $155 for Weight Watchers to $546 for orlistat. And in terms of QALYs, Weight Watchers and Qsymia offered the best value for the money, they concluded.
Incremental cost per QALY was $34,630 for Weight Watchers and $54,130 for Qsymia — the latter is slightly above the usual threshold for cost-effectiveness, which is $50,000.
They noted that the Jenny Craig diet generates additional QALYs at an incremental cost of more than $350,000 per QALY in the most optimistic scenario.
“Although containing rising rates of obesity is a public health imperative, employers and third-party payers remain hesitant to sink big money into commercial weight-loss strategies,” Finkelstein said in the statement. “To remain competitive, the other programs will either need to up the benefits and/or reduce costs, perhaps through cost-sharing or via other incentive strategies.”
The study was limited because the comparisons aren’t based on a single randomized trial that includes all interventions. Nor did the analysis include other weight-loss options, notably weight-loss surgery.
Still, they said future trials “should look at the weight loss and cost consequences of offering these programs as part of larger health promotion efforts within employer/insurer groups.”
Finkelstein reported financial relationships with Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Takeda, Orexigen, and Vivus.