Korean J Obes.  2005 Sep;14(3):155-162.

Double-blind, Parallel-group, Placebo-controlled Multi-center Clinical Trial for Evaluating the Efficacy and Safety of Phentermine Hydrochloride in Obese Patients

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. kskim@catholic.ac.kr
  • 2Department of Family Medicine, Seoul Paik Hospital, College of Medicine, Inje University, Seoul, Korea.
  • 3Department of Family Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Ulsan University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Phentermine is a sympathomimetic amine used as an appetite suppressant for short term therapy. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of phentermine in Korean obese patients.
METHODS
This study was a 12-week, double blind, multi-center placebo-controlled clinical trial followed by a 2 week screening period. Patients with a body mass index of either greater than 30 kg/m2 or between 27 and 30 kg/m2 with controlled hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia were considered eligible. Participants of 119 obese patients were randomized either to phentermine (59 patients) or placebo (60 patients) at 4 participating centers.
RESULTS
After 12 weeks of treatment, mean weight reduction at 12 week was 7.94 +/- 7.31 kg among phentermine group and 0.91 +/- 5.88 kg among placebo group (P < 0.001). In phentermine group, 73.6% of patients lost 5% or more of their initial body weight in contrast to 15.1% in placebo group. Phentermine-induced weight reduction was not associated with any significant improvements in serum level of fasting glucose and lipid profile compared to placebo. Changes in blood pressure were not different among the two groups, however, pulse rate was significantly elevated in phentermine group. The drop out rate was 11.7% for both groups. Among the reported adverse events in phentermine group, dry mouth (22.0%) was significantly higher compared with placebo group (5.0%) (P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION
Phentermine is well tolerated and is considered to be an effective short term therapy for managing obesity among the Korean population.

Keyword

Obesity; Weight loss; Phentermine; Efficacy; Safety; Double-blind

MeSH Terms

Appetite
Blood Pressure
Body Mass Index
Body Weight
Fasting
Glucose
Heart Rate
Humans
Hyperlipidemias
Hypertension
Mass Screening
Mouth
Obesity
Phentermine*
Weight Loss
Glucose
Phentermine
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