SUN-389 Trends in Osteoporosis Treatment Uptake and Persistence Among Postmenopausal Women in the U.S., 2010–2015

Abstract

Background: Over the last several years, the approval of new pharmacotherapies, changes to health plan formularies limiting treatment access, the emergence of new evidence related to medication safety and effectiveness, and updates to clinical practice guidelines may have influenced osteoporosis treatment patterns. Sankey visualizations were used to depict postmenopausal (PM) women’s osteoporosis treatment journeys, from treatment uptake, patterns of transition, to persistence. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of all PM women (aged 55+) who newly initiated five antiresorptive treatments between October 1, 2010 and September 30, 2015 using patient and prescription data from the Truven Health Analytics MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters and Medicare Supplemental databases. We identified women who were continuously enrolled in the health plan for one year prior to the date of treatment initiation (index date) and were treatment-free during this period. Treatment states were evaluated cross-sectionally at six-month time points; treatment switches and gaps in therapy between time points were not captured. Persistence was defined as a patient being on the same treatment at a given follow-up time point as compared to the treatment they were on at the index date. Results: Among women newly initiating any of the five antiresorptive therapies, alendronate (53%) remained the most commonly prescribed therapy, followed by ibandronate (13 %), zoledronic acid-ZA (12%), risedronate (11 %), and denosumab (11%). New initiation of alendronate was high across all age, prior fracture history, and osteoporosis diagnosis subgroups (range: 45–68%). From 2010 to 2015, new uptake of denosumab increased by 13%, while ZA uptake declined by 10%. A higher proportion of denosumab users were ≥ 65 years (denosumab: 59%; ZA: 54%; alendronate: 46%) and had a prior history of fracture (denosumab: 30%, ZA: 25%; alendronate: 19%) compared to bisphosphonate users. Two-year persistence was highest among women initiating denosumab (58%), followed by ZA (48%), alendronate (32%), ibandronate (30%), and risedronate (25%). Persistence was lowest for oral bisphosphonate users (alendronate range: 30–33%), irregular among ZA users (range: 29–49%) and higher for denosumab users across all subgroups (range: 46–59%). From 2010 to 2014, persistence improved for all therapies, except among ZA users, which declined by 9%. Conclusions: Little has changed in the prescribing patterns and patient profiles of PM women newly initiating antiresorptive therapies over five years from 2010–2015. Alendronate remained the most commonly prescribed therapy despite lower rates of persistence, with similarly high uptake regardless of risk for fracture. Denosumab was primarily prescribed to women at higher risk for fracture, and persistence was higher compared to other therapies across all subgroups.