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Real-world study suggests high adherence for injectable osteoporosis therapy
A cohort of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture prescribed abaloparatide outside of a clinical trial setting reported high treatment satisfaction, with 94% of participants adhering to daily injections as prescribed, according to study data presented at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research annual meeting.
“I was surprised — and delighted — by the findings that patients did not turn away from the need for daily injections in order to take abaloparatide,” Deborah Gold, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, told Endocrine Today. “Over half reported that they were completely satisfied about having to inject the medication. In other diseases where medication had to be delivered via an injection, patients were not as supportive. This, combined with the 24-month maximum limit for use of this drug, allows patients to set goals and work toward building bone with this anabolic preparation during that time period. Patients reported that being able to build bone, rather than just stopping bone loss, was very important to them.”
Gold and colleagues analyzed data from 193 postmenopausal women from eight secondary care sites in the United States (mean age, 67 years) who were prescribed abalparatide (Tymlos,Radius Health) as a first anabolic treatment for osteoporosis (cohort 1) or switched from teriparatide (Forteo, Eli Lilly) to abaloparatide (cohort 2). Participants completed a questionnaire assessing treatment adherence, treatment satisfaction and health-related quality of life. Researchers analyzed additional retrospective data from patient medical records.
Within the cohort, 182 women (94%) reported taking abaloparatide as directed by injecting the medication into the lower abdomen. A similar percentage reported satisfaction with the needle and reported never deliberately missing a dose (93% for both). However, among women who responded to the question (n = 109), 32% reported that the need to inject the medication was the most bothersome feature, followed by medication cost (30%). Most women reported they were “completely satisfied” with the medication, with 44% reporting that ability to build bone was the best feature of abaloparatide, followed by ability to do daily activities (19%) and reduction in fracture risk (17%).
“When patients report about their medication experience as positively as they did in this study, we believe that they will adhere with the dosing and delivery instructions,” Gold said. “In truth, one of the biggest problems in the field of bone disease is that patients do not take their medicines as directed. This, tied in with the fact that there is a 2-year time period when they will take this drug that will be followed by a medication to reduce loss of bone, suggests that they will commit to taking this drug as directed. If we could achieve the level of acceptance of all osteoporosis medicines as we seem to have with abaloparatide, we could make consistent progress on fighting bone disease and reducing fractures.” – by Regina Schaffer
Reference:
Gold DT, et al. Poster SUN-787. Presented at: American Society of Bone and Mineral Research; Sept. 20-23, 2019; Orlando.
Disclosures: Radius Health funded this study and provided editorial support. Gold reports she is a consultant for Amgen, Eli Lilly and Radius Health.