Semaglutide May Lower Burden of Hospitalizations in High-Risk Patients

FRIDAY, Jan. 2, 2026 (HealthDay News) — For patients at high cardiovascular risk with overweight or obesity, semaglutide is associated with reduced burden of total hospital admissions, according to a study published online Dec. 23 in JAMA Cardiology.

Stephen J. Nicholls, M.D., from Monash Victorian Heart Institute and Monash University in Australia, and colleagues conducted a prespecified exploratory analysis of the Semaglutide Effects on Cardiovascular Outcomes in People With Overweight or Obesity (SELECT) clinical trial to examine the impact of semaglutide on total hospital admissions and duration of hospital stay in patients aged 45 years or older with established cardiovascular disease (CVD) and body mass index of 27 kg/m² or higher without diabetes. In the SELECT trial, patients were randomized from October 2018 to March 2021 to subcutaneous semaglutide, 2.4 mg, or placebo once weekly. A total of 17,604 patients at 804 clinical settings were followed up for a median of 41.8 months.

The researchers found that there were 11,287 hospital admissions. Compared with placebo, semaglutide was associated with a lower number of total hospitalizations for any indication (18.3 versus 20.4 admissions per 100 patient-years; mean ratio, 0.90) and for serious adverse events (15.2 versus 17.1 admissions per 100 patient-years; mean ratio, 0.89). The semaglutide group also had a lower number of days hospitalized for any indication (157.2 versus 176.2 per 100 patient-years; rate ratio, 0.89) and for serious adverse events (137.6 versus 153.9 days per 100 patient-years; rate ratio, 0.89). In selected subgroups including body mass index, age, and sex, no heterogeneity was seen for the reduction of hospital admissions with semaglutide.

“These findings extend the previously reported benefits of semaglutide on major adverse cardiovascular events to a broader range of clinical and health care system outcomes,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry, including Novo Nordisk, which manufactures semaglutide and funded the study.

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