Health Beliefs and Obesity Bias as Determinants of Attitudes Toward the Rising Tides of GLP-1 Medications : Mounjaro and Ozempic
(2025) In Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity 18. p.1389-1409- Abstract
Introduction: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists including Mounjaro and Ozempic, are increasingly used for weight management. Assessing the attitudes and beliefs of current and future healthcare professionals is important considering their roles in recommending and prescribing these drugs. This study aimed to investigate the attitudes toward Mounjaro and Ozempic and its correlation with obesity/overweight bias among healthcare professionals and students in medicine and pharmacy in Arab countries. Methods: This cross-sectional study was based on a self-administered online questionnaire with participants recruited via a convenient snowball sampling approach. Attitudes towards Mounjaro and Ozempic were evaluated using a... (More)
Introduction: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists including Mounjaro and Ozempic, are increasingly used for weight management. Assessing the attitudes and beliefs of current and future healthcare professionals is important considering their roles in recommending and prescribing these drugs. This study aimed to investigate the attitudes toward Mounjaro and Ozempic and its correlation with obesity/overweight bias among healthcare professionals and students in medicine and pharmacy in Arab countries. Methods: This cross-sectional study was based on a self-administered online questionnaire with participants recruited via a convenient snowball sampling approach. Attitudes towards Mounjaro and Ozempic were evaluated using a newly developed construct termed Mini Health Beliefs and Attitudes toward GLP-1 Drugs Scale (mini-HBAGS), alongside a novel scale to assess obesity/overweight bias (OOB). The new constructs’ validity was assessed via content validity, principal component analysis (PCA), and Cronbach’s α. Results: The study included 413 participants predominantly from Kuwait (32.8%), Egypt (20.9%), Saudi Arabia (18.8%), and Jordan (15.4%). Familiarity with Mounjaro and Ozempic was high (83.6%), with 17.2% recommending them. Weight management drug use was 14.0%, including 5.9% for Mounjaro and Ozempic. Among participants familiar with Mounjaro and Ozempic, the mean OOB score was 3.83±0.62 (range: 1.00–5.00), indicating agreement, while the mean score for the mini-H-BAGS was 2.70±0.716 (range: 1.00–5.00), indicating a slightly unfavorable attitude. PCA identified perceived benefits and barriers, and subjective norms and attitudes, as key determinants of attitudes toward Mounjaro and Ozempic. Conclusion: This study revealed slightly negative attitudes toward Mounjaro and Ozempic among healthcare professionals and students in Arab countries. The negative attitudes observed likely reflect concerns about side effects, cost, and accessibility of these medications. The findings highlighted the need for targeted education in Arab countries to address obesity bias and encourage a balanced evaluation of the benefits and risks of GLP-1 drugs for weight management.
(Less)
- author
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- GLP-1 medications, health beliefs, mounjaro, obesity BIAs, ozempic, pharmacological interventions, weight management
- in
- Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity
- volume
- 18
- pages
- 21 pages
- publisher
- Dove Medical Press Ltd.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105005714239
- pmid:40343227
- ISSN
- 1178-7007
- DOI
- 10.2147/DMSO.S518994
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 646dd263-5f51-4df0-aa32-e1ce17f44f15
- date added to LUP
- 2025-10-01 12:27:47
- date last changed
- 2025-10-02 10:39:47
@article{646dd263-5f51-4df0-aa32-e1ce17f44f15,
abstract = {{<p>Introduction: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists including Mounjaro and Ozempic, are increasingly used for weight management. Assessing the attitudes and beliefs of current and future healthcare professionals is important considering their roles in recommending and prescribing these drugs. This study aimed to investigate the attitudes toward Mounjaro and Ozempic and its correlation with obesity/overweight bias among healthcare professionals and students in medicine and pharmacy in Arab countries. Methods: This cross-sectional study was based on a self-administered online questionnaire with participants recruited via a convenient snowball sampling approach. Attitudes towards Mounjaro and Ozempic were evaluated using a newly developed construct termed Mini Health Beliefs and Attitudes toward GLP-1 Drugs Scale (mini-HBAGS), alongside a novel scale to assess obesity/overweight bias (OOB). The new constructs’ validity was assessed via content validity, principal component analysis (PCA), and Cronbach’s α. Results: The study included 413 participants predominantly from Kuwait (32.8%), Egypt (20.9%), Saudi Arabia (18.8%), and Jordan (15.4%). Familiarity with Mounjaro and Ozempic was high (83.6%), with 17.2% recommending them. Weight management drug use was 14.0%, including 5.9% for Mounjaro and Ozempic. Among participants familiar with Mounjaro and Ozempic, the mean OOB score was 3.83±0.62 (range: 1.00–5.00), indicating agreement, while the mean score for the mini-H-BAGS was 2.70±0.716 (range: 1.00–5.00), indicating a slightly unfavorable attitude. PCA identified perceived benefits and barriers, and subjective norms and attitudes, as key determinants of attitudes toward Mounjaro and Ozempic. Conclusion: This study revealed slightly negative attitudes toward Mounjaro and Ozempic among healthcare professionals and students in Arab countries. The negative attitudes observed likely reflect concerns about side effects, cost, and accessibility of these medications. The findings highlighted the need for targeted education in Arab countries to address obesity bias and encourage a balanced evaluation of the benefits and risks of GLP-1 drugs for weight management.</p>}},
author = {{Al-Mahzoum, Kholoud and Abdelaziz, Doaa H. and Alenezi, Fajer and Almutairi, Jouza and Alsubaiei, Mohammad Khaled and Alharbi, Abdullah Bader and Al-Rawi, Sarah and Al-Rawi, Shahad and Bousheheri, Fatemah Faisal and Alhajri, Ahmad Hameed and Alajmi, Saif Nasser and Sallam, Mohammed and Mansour, Noha O. and Alnazly, Eman Khamis and Sallam, Malik}},
issn = {{1178-7007}},
keywords = {{GLP-1 medications; health beliefs; mounjaro; obesity BIAs; ozempic; pharmacological interventions; weight management}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{1389--1409}},
publisher = {{Dove Medical Press Ltd.}},
series = {{Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity}},
title = {{Health Beliefs and Obesity Bias as Determinants of Attitudes Toward the Rising Tides of GLP-1 Medications : Mounjaro and Ozempic}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/DMSO.S518994}},
doi = {{10.2147/DMSO.S518994}},
volume = {{18}},
year = {{2025}},
}