Modi A, et al. - The relationship between gastrointestinal (GI) events and self-reported levels of medication adherence and persistence in postmenopausal women was investigated in this multinational, prospective, observational study. The researchers found an association between the occurrence of GI events with a lower likelihood of patient adherence to and persistence with osteoporosis (OP) medication.

Methods

• The Medication Use Patterns, Treatment Satisfaction, and Inadequate Control of Osteoporosis Study was a multinational, prospective, observational study.
• This study investigated the impact of GI events on OP management in postmenopausal women.
• The researchers collected information regarding GI events at the time of enrollment and at months 3, 6, and 12 of follow-up.
• GI events and medication persistence were reported by patients.
• Patients completed the 12-item Adherence Evaluation of Osteoporosis treatment (ADEOS) questionnaire.
• They examined the association between GI events at various time points and persistence and adherence at month 12 through multivariate logistic and general linear models.

Results

• A total of 2,943 women were enrolled; 22.8% were classified as new users of OP therapy and the remainder were considered experienced users.
• In this study, 68.1% reported GI events at baseline across all patients.
• Over 80% of subjects who completed follow-up reported at least 1 GI problem, by month 12.
• At baseline, the majority of patients (86.7%) were treated only with bisphosphonates.
• Findings revealed that 73.9% of patients remained on therapy at month 12.
• Logistic regression demonstrated that after adjusting for other factors, those with GI problems by month 6 were significantly less likely to persist with treatment.
• Among patients who experienced a GI event between baseline and month 6, the odds of a month 12 ADEOS score ≥ 20 (considered predictive of adherence) were significantly lower.