Anti‐osteoporosis medication dispensing by clinical commissioning groups in England – an ecological study of variability in practice and of the effect of the Covid‐19 pandemic

PURPOSE: To investigate whether the rate of Anti‐Osteoporosis Medication (AOM) dispensing was related to prevalence of risk factors and hip fracture incidence in the local population. METHODS: The Open Prescribing database was used to analyse dispensed AOM at the level of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in England. Male Healthy Life Expectancy (MHLE), Female Healthy Life Expectancy (FHLE), the prevalence of smoking and active adults, the incidence of hip fracture and of alcohol related hospital admissions, and local dispensing of a comparator drug (atorvastatin) were considered as predictor variables. Linear and multilinear regression were performed. Using atorvastatin as a comparator, AOM dispensing was compared after the start of the Covid‐19 pandemic with the same quarter the previous year. RESULTS: Rates of AOM per 1000 people aged over 65 years in a CCG area varied between 379.2 and 1129.1, with a mean of 670.3. Population risk factors were individually related to the amount of AOM dispensed in an area. Collectively, local activity levels in adults (p = 0.042) and local hip fracture incidence (p = 0.003) were significantly negatively correlated with rates of AOM dispensed. Rates of alendronate dispensing fell significantly at the start of the Covid‐19 pandemic (p < 0.001), whilst atorvastatin dispensing rates significantly increased (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Lower rates of AOM dispensing were seen in areas with a higher proportion of active adults and higher incidence of hip fracture. Multidisciplinary services should be developed to address this care gap with consideration given to local population risk factors. Community pharmacists are ideally placed to play a vital role in osteoporosis management.