Denosumab Treatment Improves Health-Related Quality of Life in Osteoporosis: Is It Still an Attractive Topic?

Antimo Moretti,Giovanni Iolascon

doi:10.1002/jbm4.10220

Abstract

Denosumab Treatment Improves Health-Related Quality of Life in Osteoporosis: Is It Still an Attractive Topic?

Highlights

In a recent prospective cohort study, Hayashi and colleagues(1) assessed the effectiveness of denosumab in improving healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL) in osteoporotic patients, reporting that this drug would be useful in reducing pain and improving quality of life, but that these effects could be correlated to a BMD increase
Vertebral fragility fractures may cause chronic pain as a result of peripheral and/or central sensitization mechanisms,(5) with a huge impact on activities of daily living, social participation, and economic burden, as well as HRQoL.(6) It is not surprising that in the cohort included by Hayashi and colleagues(1) over 50% of patients had prevalent fragility fractures, of which more than 70% occurred at the spine, the authors did not adequately enhance this data
In our real-practice prospective study,(2) denosumab was significantly effective in both reducing back-pain-related disability and improving HRQoL, as assessed by two validated and widely used outcome measures, the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) and the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions-3 Levels (EuroQol-5D-3L), in osteoporotic postmenopausal women with vertebral fractures in long-term follow-up (1 year), with significant benefits reported at 6 months after the injection in all outcomes investigated

Summary

Introduction

In a recent prospective cohort study, Hayashi and colleagues(1) assessed the effectiveness of denosumab in improving healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL) in osteoporotic patients, reporting that this drug would be useful in reducing pain and improving quality of life, but that these effects could be correlated to a BMD increase. Osteoporosis itself is not a painful condition, except in the case of fragility fractures.(3) These fractures typically cause acute nociceptive pain that begins immediately after the trauma and lasts until bone-healing occurs.

Results

Conclusion