Patients with osteoporosis prefer once weekly to once daily dosing with alendronate.
OBJECTIVE
Once weekly dosing of alendronate has been shown to provide equivalent efficacy to once daily dosing for treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Whether patients will prefer weekly dosing to daily dosing for a chronic condition such as osteoporosis has not been studied. The aim of this international study was to assess preference for the weekly or daily dosing regimen of alendronate among postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.


METHODS
This randomised open-label crossover study was conducted at 45 study sites in 19 countries. Four hundred and six postmenopausal women with osteoporosis were assigned randomly to treatment with either alendronate 70 mg once weekly for 4 weeks followed by alendronate 10 mg once daily for 4 weeks or vice versa. The main outcome was the responses of the participants to the Dosing Regimen Questionnaire administered at the end of the study.


RESULTS
Of the participants expressing a preference, 84% preferred the once weekly dosing regimen with alendronate to the once daily dosing regimen. In addition, the once weekly regimen was considered by 87% of the participants to be more convenient and was the regimen most of the participants (84%) would be more willing to take for a long period of time (P < 0.001 for each parameter).


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis preferred the once weekly to the once daily dosing regimen of alendronate. Physicians should consider patient preference for dosing regimen when selecting the appropriate treatment for osteoporosis.
Kendler
David
D
St. Vincent's Hospital, 120-809 W 41 Avenue, Vancouver, BC, Canada V5Z 2N6. kendler@ca.inter.net
Kung
Annie Wai Chee
AW
Fuleihan
Ghada El-Hajj
Gel-H
González González
José Gerardo
JG
Gaines
Keavy A
KA
Verbruggen
Nadia
N
Melton
Mary E
ME
D000368:Aged; D019386:Alendronate / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D019386:Alendronate