title: Therapeutic adherence to osteoporosis treatment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Adherence of patients to therapy is a major determinant of therapeutic success, which is not included in most clinical studies. This is especially true for chronic diseases with few subjective symptoms, such as osteoporosis. The aim of our study was to describe and to analyze the therapeutic adherence to several widely used anti-osteoporotic medications in real-world medicine in Slovakia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a retrospective approach, data about drug prescriptions for 8,223 patients from 3 consecutive years were analyzed regarding compliance and persistence. Compliance was measured as medication possession ratio-ratio between the supply of the drugs in the treatment time according to the prescriptions and the time of observation. Persistence was assessed as the percentage of patients who used the drug without a gap for the given time period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average compliance was 70%, 59%, and 4% for 6, 12, and 24 months, respectively. Average persistence was very low with 54%, 42%, and 22% for 6, 12, and 24 months, respectively. Total average persistence was only 9.8 months. Medications with lower frequency of application tended to be associated with higher adherence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, the therapeutic adherence to anti-osteoporotic treatments varies between the available drugs and drug regimens. In general, the adherence is very low but comparable to previously published studies from other countries. This variability of adherence should be considered in clinical decision making together with the variability of therapeutic efficiency found in clinical studies.
authors.forename: Sona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tomková
authors.forename: Danica
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Telepková
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vanuga
authors.forename: Zdenko
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Killinger
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sulková
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Celec
authors.forename: Juraj
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Payer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D055118:Medication Adherence; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018154:Slovakia; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents