Patients Do Not Stick with Osteoporosis Therapy

A study on postmenopausal osteoporosisfound that women taking bisphosphonatesdo not stay with the treatments or take themas directed. Adherence to therapy involvesboth persistence and compliance. In a studyexamining persistence over 1 year, theresearchers found that only 30% and 14%of women new to weekly or daily bisphosphonatetherapy, respectively, had prescriptionsfilled covering 271 days. The findingswere based on prescription data from USpharmacies over 1 year in >200,000 women50 years and older taking daily (33,767women) or weekly (177,552 women) bisphosphonates.

"Osteoporosis is a chronic conditionthat requires patients to take their medicationas directed over the long term to getthe full benefit," said lead investigatorJoyce A. Cramer, associate research scientist,Yale University School of Medicine.Presenting the findings at the recent annualmeeting of the North American MenopauseSociety, the researchers said thatthe results are a major concern. Previousstudies showed that poor adherence withosteoporosis therapy resulted in less gainin bone mineral density, increased chancefor bone fractures, and additional healthcare costs.