Persistent bisphosphonate use and the risk of osteoporotic fractures in clinical practice: a database analysis study

ABSTRACTObjective: This study aimed to investigate the association between persistent use of bisphosphonates and the risk of osteoporotic fractures in clinical practice.Methods: Data were obtained from the PHARMO Record Linkage System, which includes, among other databases, drug-dispensing records from community pharmacies linked to hospital discharge records of more than two million subjects in defined areas in the Netherlands. Persistence with bisphosphonate therapy was assessed during a period of 3 years. A nested matched case control study (cases:controls = 1:10) was performed to study the association between persistent bisphosphonate use and hospitalisation for osteoporotic fractures and analysed by conditional logistic regression analysis. The analyses were adjusted for patient characteristics such as previous hospitalisations for fractures, co-morbidity and co-medication.Results: 14 760 new female users of bisphosphonates were identified of which 541 women had a hospitalisation for osteoporotic fra...