Semaglutide for cardiovascular event reduction in people with overweight or obesity: SELECT study baseline characteristics

• Published in: Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 111 - 122
• Main Authors: Lingvay, Ildiko, Brown‐Frandsen, Kirstine, Colhoun, Helen M., Deanfield, John, Emerson, Scott S., Esbjerg, Sille, Hardt‐Lindberg, Søren, Hovingh, G. Kees, Kahn, Steven E., Kushner, Robert F., Lincoff, A. Michael, Marso, Steven P., Fries, Tea Monk, Plutzky, Jorge, Ryan, Donna H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-01-2023; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Angina pectoris; Antidiabetics; Body mass index; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular Diseases - chemically induced; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Cardiovascular Diseases - prevention & control; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - diagnosis; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - drug therapy; Female; Gastrointestinal surgery; Glucagon; Heart attacks; Heart failure; Hemoglobin; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents - therapeutic use; Insulin resistance; Male; Metabolic disorders; Middle Aged; Mortality; Myocardial Infarction - epidemiology; Myocardial Infarction - prevention & control; Obesity; Obesity - chemically induced; Obesity - complications; Obesity - drug therapy; Original; ORIGINAL ARTICLES; Overweight; Overweight - chemically induced; Overweight - complications; Overweight - drug therapy; Peripheral Arterial Disease - chemically induced; Risk factors; Stroke; Vein & artery diseases; Weight control
• ISSN: 1930-7381; 1930-739X
• DOI: 10.1002/oby.23621

Objective
This paper describes the baseline characteristics of the Semaglutide Effects on Heart Disease and Stroke in Patients with Overweight or Obesity (SELECT) study, one of the largest cardiovascular (CV) outcome studies in the field of obesity, which evaluates the effect of semaglutide versus placebo on major CV events.
Methods
SELECT enrolled individuals with overweight or obesity without diabetes, with prior myocardial infarction, stroke, and/or peripheral artery disease. This study reports participants' baseline characteristics in the full study population and subgroups defined by baseline glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c; <5.7%, ≥5.7 to <6.0%, ≥6.0 to <6.5%), baseline waist to height ratio tertile, and qualifying prior CV event or condition.
Results
The study enrolled 17,605 participants (72.5% male) with an average (SD) age of 61.6 (8.9) years and BMI of 33.34 (5.04) kg/m2. The most common prior CV event was myocardial infarction (76.3% of participants), followed by stroke (23.3%) and peripheral artery disease (8.6%). Furthermore, 24.3% had a heart failure diagnosis. Two‐thirds of participants (66%) had HbA1c in the prediabetes range (5.7%‐6.4%). Across groups of increasing HbA1c, prevalence of all CV risk factors increased.
Conclusions
The enrolled population in SELECT includes participants across a broad range of relevant risk categories. This will allow the study to garner information about the CV benefits of semaglutide across these relevant clinical subgroups.