Publications (126) View all
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Article: Time trends for alendronate prescription practices in women with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and women exposed to systemic glucocorticoids.
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ABSTRACT: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and systemic glucocorticoid exposure are well-known risk factors of osteoporosis. We evaluated alendronate prescription practices related to COPD and exposure to systemic corticosteroids from 1996 to 2008 and showed an increasing targeting of alendronate treatment in patients with COPD and patients with systemic corticosteroid exposure. INTRODUCTION: COPD and systemic glucocorticoid exposure are well-known risk factors of osteoporosis and fragility fracture, but osteoporosis is often underdiagnosed and undertreated in these patients. This study aims to evaluate alendronate prescription practices related to COPD and/or to exposure to systemic glucocorticoids among Danish women. METHODS: A total of 388,314 female subjects >50 years old, 64,719 of whom initiated treatment with alendronate, and 323,595 age- and gender-matched controls were retrospectively identified between 1996 and 2008 from national health registers. Multivariate logistic regression was used for examining prescription practices, specifically if these risk factors (COPD or glucocorticoid exposure) increased or decreased the likelihood of beginning alendronate therapy. RESULTS: A diagnosis of COPD was associated with an increased likelihood of using alendronate (odds ratio (OR) 1.4, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.4-1.5, p < 0.001). Further, a diagnosis of COPD was associated with an increasing tendency of initiating alendronate treatment in the study period (OR 1.3 (95 % CI 1.1-1.5, years 1996-1999) to 1.5 (95 % CI 1.4-1.6, years 2006-2008), p < 0.01). Exposure to systemic glucocorticoids was associated with a significantly increasing (OR 3.6, 95 % CI 3.3-3.9 to OR 5.5, 95 % CI 5.3-5.8) probability of receiving alendronate treatment in the same observation period. CONCLUSION: This nationwide register-based study on alendronate prescription practices in Denmark shows an increasing targeting of alendronate treatment in patients with COPD and an even stronger trend for patients with systemic glucocorticoid exposure, perhaps indicating increased awareness of well-known and associated conditions.Osteoporosis International 11/2012; · 4.58 Impact Factor -
Article: Characteristics of patients who suffer major osteoporotic fractures despite adhering to alendronate treatment: a National Prescription registry study.
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ABSTRACT: Antiresorptive treatment reduces the risk of fractures, but most patients remain at elevated risk. We used health registers to identify predictors of new major osteoporotic fractures in patients adhering to alendronate. Risk factors showed a different pattern than in the general population and included dementia, ulcer disease, and Parkinson's disease. INTRODUCTION: Antiresorptives reduce the excess risk of fractures in patients with osteoporosis, but most patients remain at elevated risk. In some countries, patients must sustain fractures while on bisphosphonate (BP) treatment to qualify for more expensive treatment. It is unclear if patients who fracture on BP can be viewed as a distinct subgroup. METHODS: The National Prescription registry was used to identify 38,088 new alendronate users. The outcome was major osteoporotic fractures 6+ months after filling the first prescription in patients with a medication possession ratio > 80 %. RESULTS: One thousand and seventy-two (5.5 %) patients sustained major osteoporotic fractures. The risk increased with age and was lower in men. The most important risk factor was the number of comedications (hazard ratio (HR) 1.04, 95 % CI 1.03-1.06, for each drug). Dementia (HR 1.81, 95 % CI 1.18-2.78), prior fracture (one: HR 1.17, 95 % CI 1.02-1.34; multiple: HR 1.34, 95 % CI 1.08-1.67), and ulcer disease (HR 1.45, 95 % CI 1.04-2.03) also increased the risk. Diabetes did not influence fracture risk, nor did rheumatic disorders. The risk was lower in glucocorticoid users (HR 0.78, 95 % CI 0.65-0.93). CONCLUSION: Risk factors while adhering to BP show a somewhat different pattern than that of the general population and FRAX. Ulcer disease and dementia may impair the ability to use the medications correctly. Though this is an observational study and associations may not be causal, it may be prudent to include dementia, ulcer disease, and Parkinson's disease to capture the risk of fractures on treatment. Lower risk in patients treated with glucocorticoids and in men probably reflects a lower treatment threshold related to guidelines.Osteoporosis International 10/2012; · 4.58 Impact Factor -
Article: Bisphosphonates and colon cancer: reply.
Osteoporosis International 07/2012; · 4.58 Impact Factor -
Article: Antidepressant medications and osteoporosis.
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ABSTRACT: Use of antidepressant medications that act on the serotonin system has been linked to detrimental impacts on bone mineral density (BMD), and to osteoporosis. This article reviews current evidence for such effects, and identifies themes for future research. Serotonin receptors are found in all major types of bone cell (osteoblasts, osteocytes, and osteoclasts), indicating an important role of the neuroendocrine system in bone. Observational studies indicate a complex relationship between depression, antidepressants, and fracture. First, the presence of depression itself increases fracture risk, in relation with decreased BMD and an increase in falls. A range of aspects of depression may operate, including behavioral factors (e.g., smoking and nutrition), biological changes, and confounders (e.g., comorbidities and concomitant medications). A substantial proportion of depressed patients receive antidepressants, mostly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Some of these have been linked to decreased BMD (SSRIs) and increased fracture risk (SSRIs and tricyclic agents). Current use of SSRIs and tricyclics increases fracture risk by as much as twofold versus nonusers, even after adjustment for potential confounders. While there is a dose-response relationship for SSRIs, the effect does not appear to be homogeneous across the whole class of drugs and may be linked to affinity for the serotonin transporter system. The increase in risk is the greatest in the early stages of treatment, with a dramatic increase after initiation, reaching a peak within 1 month for tricyclics and 8 months for SSRIs. Treatment-associated increased risk diminishes towards baseline in the year following discontinuation. The body of evidence suggests that SSRIs should be considered in the list of medications that are risk factors for osteoporotic fractures.Bone 05/2012; 51(3):606-13. · 4.02 Impact Factor -
Article: Analysis of the association between bisphosphonate treatment survival in Danish hip fracture patients-a nationwide register-based open cohort study.
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ABSTRACT: Bisphosphonate (BP) users have decreased mortality, but this could be due to channeling bias. National healthcare data on hip fracture showed lower mortality in patients who were treated prior to fracture or began treatment after fracture. Reduced mortality after only one prescription filled points to the importance of patient factors. INTRODUCTION: Use of bisphosphonates has been found to be associated with decreased mortality even when adjusted for sex, frailty, bone mineral density and comorbidity, but BP may chiefly be initiated in patients with osteoporosis whose life expectancy is judged to be good. Our aim was to investigate the association between BP initiated before or after a hip fracture with mortality, and any modifying effects of comorbid conditions and recurrent fracture. METHODS: This register-based cohort study used prescription and mortality information for Danish patients born ≤1945 experiencing a hip fracture between 1/Jan/1999 and 31/Dec/ 2002 (N = 42,076). Patients who began BP after hip fracture were compared with hip fracture patients who remained alive at the time when their matched index case began treatment. RESULTS: Patients who used BP prior to their hip fracture (4.6 %) had significantly lower 3-month mortality (adjusted odds ratio, OR, 0.68; 0.59-0.77). Patients who began BP after the fracture (2.6 %) had significantly decreased mortality, both for patients who filled only one prescription (adjusted hazard ratio, HR 0.84; 0.73-0.95) and for patients who filled multiple prescriptions HR 0.73 (0.61-0.88). There was a significant interaction by gender with no significant risk reduction in men. CONCLUSION: This national dataset shows significantly and substantially improved survival in women who receive BP before or after their hip fracture. However, the observation of a reduction in mortality in patients who filled only one prescription for a BP suggests that patient factors may account for a considerable part of the survival advantage observed with BPs.Osteoporosis International 05/2012; · 4.58 Impact Factor
