THURSDAY, Dec. 7, 2023 (HealthDay News) — For individuals with overweight or obesity and knee or hip osteoarthritis (OA), a slow-to-moderate, but not a fast, rate of weight loss is associated with a reduced risk for all-cause mortality, according to a study published online Dec. 6 in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Jie Wei, Ph.D., from Xiangya Hospital in Changsha, China, and colleagues examined the relationship between the rate of weight loss induced by antiobesity medication during one year and all-cause mortality among patients with overweight or obesity and knee or hip OA. The effect of slow-to-moderate (2 to 10 percent) or fast (≥10 percent) weight loss induced by antiobesity medications within one year was examined.

The five-year all-cause mortality rates were 5.3, 4.0, and 5.4 percent for weight gain or stable, slow-to-moderate weight loss, and fast weight loss, respectively, among 6,524 participants. The researchers found that the hazard ratios of all-cause mortality were 0.72 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.56 to 0.92) and 0.99 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.67 to 1.44) for the slow-to-moderate and fast weight-loss arms compared with the weight-gain or stable arm. Weight loss had a dose-response protective effect on incident hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and venous thromboembolism, while the risk for cardiovascular disease was slightly, but not significantly, higher in individuals with a fast rate of weight loss versus those in the weight-gain or stable arm; no significant association was seen for weight loss with the risk for cancer.

“A slow-to-moderate rate of weight loss induced by antiobesity medications may lower the risk of death in overweight/obese people with knee/hip osteoarthritis,” Wei said in a statement.

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