The comparison of quality of life, patient satisfaction and compliance in parenterally treated patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis

Abstract

Osteoporosis and fractures due to osteoporosis cause significant morbidity and mortality. It has been shown that patients are more compliant with parenteral forms of medication. In this study we aimed to evaluate parenterally treated patients’ satisfaction, compliance and quality of life (QoL). A hundred thirteen patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis using denosumab-DEN (40), intravenous zoledronic acid-ZA (41) and ibandronic acid-IA (32) for at least 1 year were enrolled. Secondary osteoporosis, metabolic bone disease, bone metastasis, hypogonadism were defined as exclusion criteria. The demographic data, bone mineral density T scores and clinical risk factors were recorded. For QoL evaluation qualeffo-41 was applied. A 3-item questionnaire was used to evaluate the satisfaction with the medication, route and frequency of administration. Demographic data and clinical characteristics were similar ( P > 0.05). There were no significant differences in any subdomain of qualeffo-41 or total score. Most of the patients (90%) who have used DEN were satisfied with drug. However, big percent of the patients using ZA (48.8%) and IA (53.1%) were hesitant. When we evaluate the satisfaction with the route of administration 90% of DEN group was satisfied. For ZA and IA it was 46.3 and 53.1. For the frequency of administration it was 87.5, 68.3 and 43.7 for DEN, ZA, IA respectively. Regardless of the medication, QoL is affected. No medication has any superiority to the others in terms of QoL. Patients’ satisfaction is affected by both the route and frequency of administration. They are more satisfied with 6 months or 1 year intake period and with the subcutaneous form. Most of the patients in DEN group have emphasized that subcutaneous administration is fast and less invasive, like immunization. In these 3 treatment options, DEN is a step ahead in terms of patients’ satisfaction.