Obesity Abstracts

The objective of SOPHIA is to optimise future obesity treatment. This has been challenging because too often, clinicians, payers and patients do not consider obesity a disease. SOPHIA proposes that obesity is in fact a set of complex and chronic diseases that should be taken just as seriously as other heterogeneous chronic conditions. We define diseases of obesity in the context of (a) the risks of complications linked to obesity and (b) the responses the diseases have to various treatments (lifestyle interventions, pharmacotherapy, and surgery). SOPHIA will identify and characterise clinically-meaningful subpopulations of patients with obesity using their operational variables for (a) risk and (b) response. We will use this knowledge to stimulate a new narrative, understanding and vocabulary around obesity as a set of complex and chronic diseases. To achieve this, we will pursue the following specific aims: Create a federated distributed database of the best available patient information, by identifying and harmonising key cohorts. Identify predictors of risks of obesity complications. We will identify subpopulations who are at risk of specific complications (e.g. type 2 diabetes (T2D), type 1 diabetes (T1D), cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancers and osteoarthritis). Identify predictors of response to obesity treatment modalities (lifestyle, pharmacotherapy, surgery). Involve patients. Patients will be actively involved at any ‘touch point’ where the work of SOPHIA impacts on the patient – including data collection and analysis with the purpose to take into account patient perspective and priorities. Create a shared value analysis (SVA). To achieve impact, SOPHIA must ensure it meets a number of common needs of a broad range of stakeholders who can all impact positively on change for good when it comes to sustainably effective treatments which can be taken up by patients, payers and providers alike, creating value that is at the intersection of (a) better patient care; (b) reduced societal burden; and (c) commercially viable opportunities to treat obesity.