Compliance with treatment in osteoporosis patients--an ongoing problem

Osteoporosis is a chronic condition that generally requires long term therapy with agents such as bisphosphonates, selective oestrogen receptor modulators, or hormone therapy for fracture risk reduction to be apparent. However, compliance with therapy in the 'real world' setting has generally been less than that seen in clinical trials.

This article reviews the trends of compliance and persistence with bisphosphonate therapy in patients with osteoporosis in the 'real world' setting.

Studies in Australia and overseas have shown that once weekly administration of bisphosphonates improves compliance with treatment compared with a daily regimen. However, although patients prefer once weekly bisphosphonates over daily treatment, compliance and persistence remained suboptimal in many patients receiving once weekly therapy. The introduction of less frequent dosing regimens such as once monthly or once yearly may increase compliance.