Physicians’ perspectives on the treatment of osteoporosis patients with bisphosphonates

BACKGROUND: Noncompliance with bisphosphonate therapy among osteoporosis patients attenuates the reduction of fracture risk. The objective of this study was to assess physicians’ prescribing considerations, preferences for osteoporosis treatments, and perceptions of patients’ compliance with oral bi...

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Autores principales: Gu, Tao, Eisenberg Lawrence, Debra F, Stephenson, Judith J, Yu, Jingbo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Dove Medical Press 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4760663/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26929609
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S97593
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author Gu, Tao
Eisenberg Lawrence, Debra F
Stephenson, Judith J
Yu, Jingbo
author_facet Gu, Tao
Eisenberg Lawrence, Debra F
Stephenson, Judith J
Yu, Jingbo
author_sort Gu, Tao
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Noncompliance with bisphosphonate therapy among osteoporosis patients attenuates the reduction of fracture risk. The objective of this study was to assess physicians’ prescribing considerations, preferences for osteoporosis treatments, and perceptions of patients’ compliance with oral bisphosphonates. METHODS: This was an online survey of US physicians identified in the HealthCore Integrated Research Database (HIRD(SM)) as prescribing oral bisphosphonates to women aged ≥55 years. The survey gauged physicians’ prescribing considerations and preferences for various types of osteoporosis medications. The physicians were asked to predict patient persistence and compliance, and rate various reasons for noncompliance. RESULTS: Bone mineral density, long-term medication use (eg, corticosteroids), and a history of fracture were ranked as major considerations by 94.9%, 88.6%, and 86.7% of participating physicians (N=158), respectively, when deciding whether to treat an osteoporosis patient. Most physicians expressed a preference for prescribing weekly or monthly oral bisphosphonates, for both newly diagnosed patients (54.4% and 34.2%, respectively) and long-term users of oral bisphosphonates (40.5% and 36.1%, respectively). Most physicians (23.4% always, 58.9% sometimes) incorporated a drug holiday into their prescribing patterns. Although most physicians predicted that more than half of the patients would comply with the prescribed medication for at least a year, 17.7% predicted that less than half of the patients would be compliant in the 1st year, and 29.7% predicted the same result for compliance beyond 1 year. In the opinion of the majority of physicians, the major reasons for noncompliance with oral bisphosphonates were intolerance of a medication due to a gastrointestinal condition (71.5%) and medication side effects (69.6%). CONCLUSION: US physicians consider several relevant risk factors when deciding whether to prescribe pharmacotherapy and exhibit a preference for weekly or monthly regimens. The physicians estimated a substantial minority of the patients to be noncompliant with oral bisphosphonates, for reasons including primarily gastrointestinal intolerance and medication-related side effects.
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spelling pubmed-47606632016-02-29 Physicians’ perspectives on the treatment of osteoporosis patients with bisphosphonates Gu, Tao Eisenberg Lawrence, Debra F Stephenson, Judith J Yu, Jingbo Clin Interv Aging Original Research BACKGROUND: Noncompliance with bisphosphonate therapy among osteoporosis patients attenuates the reduction of fracture risk. The objective of this study was to assess physicians’ prescribing considerations, preferences for osteoporosis treatments, and perceptions of patients’ compliance with oral bisphosphonates. METHODS: This was an online survey of US physicians identified in the HealthCore Integrated Research Database (HIRD(SM)) as prescribing oral bisphosphonates to women aged ≥55 years. The survey gauged physicians’ prescribing considerations and preferences for various types of osteoporosis medications. The physicians were asked to predict patient persistence and compliance, and rate various reasons for noncompliance. RESULTS: Bone mineral density, long-term medication use (eg, corticosteroids), and a history of fracture were ranked as major considerations by 94.9%, 88.6%, and 86.7% of participating physicians (N=158), respectively, when deciding whether to treat an osteoporosis patient. Most physicians expressed a preference for prescribing weekly or monthly oral bisphosphonates, for both newly diagnosed patients (54.4% and 34.2%, respectively) and long-term users of oral bisphosphonates (40.5% and 36.1%, respectively). Most physicians (23.4% always, 58.9% sometimes) incorporated a drug holiday into their prescribing patterns. Although most physicians predicted that more than half of the patients would comply with the prescribed medication for at least a year, 17.7% predicted that less than half of the patients would be compliant in the 1st year, and 29.7% predicted the same result for compliance beyond 1 year. In the opinion of the majority of physicians, the major reasons for noncompliance with oral bisphosphonates were intolerance of a medication due to a gastrointestinal condition (71.5%) and medication side effects (69.6%). CONCLUSION: US physicians consider several relevant risk factors when deciding whether to prescribe pharmacotherapy and exhibit a preference for weekly or monthly regimens. The physicians estimated a substantial minority of the patients to be noncompliant with oral bisphosphonates, for reasons including primarily gastrointestinal intolerance and medication-related side effects. Dove Medical Press 2016-02-15 /pmc/articles/PMC4760663/ /pubmed/26929609 http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S97593 Text en © 2016 Gu et al. This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed.
spellingShingle Original Research
Gu, Tao
Eisenberg Lawrence, Debra F
Stephenson, Judith J
Yu, Jingbo
Physicians’ perspectives on the treatment of osteoporosis patients with bisphosphonates
title Physicians’ perspectives on the treatment of osteoporosis patients with bisphosphonates
title_full Physicians’ perspectives on the treatment of osteoporosis patients with bisphosphonates
title_fullStr Physicians’ perspectives on the treatment of osteoporosis patients with bisphosphonates
title_full_unstemmed Physicians’ perspectives on the treatment of osteoporosis patients with bisphosphonates
title_short Physicians’ perspectives on the treatment of osteoporosis patients with bisphosphonates
title_sort physicians’ perspectives on the treatment of osteoporosis patients with bisphosphonates
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4760663/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26929609
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S97593
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