1430-P: Early Real-World Experiences with Tirzepatide

Abstract

Online communities offer real-world data about interactions with new treatments prior to visibility in clinical or administrative data assets. We evaluated early tirzepatide initiation experiences reported in online health narratives after its May 2022 FDA approval for type 2 diabetes. At data extraction, < 10 tirzepatide claims were in OptumLabs’ deidentified administrative data. We extracted all publicly available posts (N=786) from r/Mounjaro (5/22 to 9/22), a Reddit community of 16,200 members. Categorical coding (agreement = .99) assessed the demographics, clinical history, treatment effects, and side effects from SURPASS trials and captured open-ended details of experiences. Most posts (67.3%) posed a question and included the r/Mounjaro users’ tirzepatide status (78.1%). Of narratives describing active tirzepatide use (N=465; 59.2%), common SURPASS side effects were decreased appetite (21.9%), nausea (11.2%), abdominal discomfort (5.8%), and diarrhea (5.2%). Common poster-defined side effects were fatigue (6.5%), body aches/stiffness (4.1%), and burping (4.1%). Posters reported tirzepatide use for weight (8.4%) more than glucose (0.4%) and obtained prescriptions from virtual clinics (7.1%) more than primary care (4.1%) or obesity specialists (0.4%). While missing some clinical details, online health narratives offer accelerated insights and can inform practice prior to traditional observational data availability. Disclosure N.Lambert: Employee; Optum Labs. M.Jarvis: Employee; Optum Labs, UnitedHealth Group, Stock/Shareholder; Oramed Pharmaceuticals, UnitedHealth Group, Dexcom, Inc., Apple, Hologic Inc., Intuitive Surgical. J.Fester: None. R.G.Mccoy: Consultant; Emmi. J.D.Ard: Advisory Panel; Novo Nordisk, Consultant; Eli Lilly and Company, Intuitive Surgical, Regeneron, Other Relationship; Optum Labs, Weight Watchers International, Research Support; Nestlé Health Science, Boehringer Ingelheim Inc., Epitomee, KVK Tech. C.Clark: Employee; UnitedHealth Group, Stock/Shareholder; UnitedHealth Group.