Adherence With Bisphosphonates and Long-Term Risk of Hip Fractures: A Nested Case-Control Study Using Real-World Data

Background: Hip fracture is a major complication of osteoporosis. Bisphosphonate medication is the mainstay of treatment for osteoporosis. However, concerns have been raised regarding the effectiveness of bisphosphonates in reducing hip fracture risk after long-term use, particularly among patients...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Annals of pharmacotherapy 2017-09, Vol.51 (9), p.757-767
Main Authors: Shalev, Varda, Sharman Moser, Sarah, Goldshtein, Inbal, Yu, Jingbo, Weil, Clara, Ish-Shalom, Sophia, Rouach, Vanessa, Chodick, Gabriel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Bone Density Conservation Agents - therapeutic use
Case-Control Studies
Diphosphonates - therapeutic use
Female
Hip Fractures - epidemiology
Hip Fractures - etiology
Hip Fractures - prevention & control
Humans
Medication Adherence - statistics & numerical data
Osteoporosis - complications
Osteoporosis - drug therapy
Retrospective Studies
Risk
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Summary:Background: Hip fracture is a major complication of osteoporosis. Bisphosphonate medication is the mainstay of treatment for osteoporosis. However, concerns have been raised regarding the effectiveness of bisphosphonates in reducing hip fracture risk after long-term use, particularly among patients with suboptimal adherence. Objective: To examine the association between adherence with bisphosphonate therapy and long-term risk of hip fracture. Methods: Included in the present nested case-control study were osteoporotic women (n = 14 357) who initiated bisphosphonate therapy in 2000-2010 and were retrospectively followed for incident hip fracture through November 2014. Within this cohort, each case of primary hip fractures was individually matched to 3 controls without a primary hip fracture. Proportion of follow-up days covered (PDC) with bisphosphonates was calculated from bisphosphonate purchases. Adherence was categorized into the following groups: purchase of 1 or 2 months’ supply (reference group), at least 3 months’ supply to PDC ≤20%, PDC >20% to ≤80%, PDC >80% to ≤100%. Results: Included in the analysis were 426 case-control groups with a mean age (SD) of 73.7 years (7.9). Compared with the reference group, PDC of 80% to 100% with bisphosphonates was associated with a significant reduction in hip fracture risk for patients with 8 to 15 years of follow-up (OR = 0.39; 95% CI = 0.18-0.87). Among patients with a follow-up of up to 3 years, OR was 0.58 (95% CI = 0.31-1.06). Conclusions: Adherence with bisphosphonates among osteoporotic patients is associated with lower risk of hip fracture, with no indication of diminished effectiveness with long-term use.
ISSN:1060-0280
1542-6270
DOI:10.1177/1060028017710482