Background
Osteoporosis is a major public threat for postmenopausal women. The recent availability of once weekly alendronate 70 mg provides an additional treatment option to once daily alendronate 10 mg. In earlier study, both alendronate 70 mg once weekly and alendronate 10 mg once daily were well tolerated with similar incidence of upper gastrointestinal adverse events. Preference, convenience, and overall compliance are key factors in the successful treatment of osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to determine preference for once weekly versus once daily dosing with alendronate, and to determine which treatment regimen the patient considered more convenient and would choose as a long-term treatment method in Korean postmenopausal women with low bone mass.
Methods
Postmenopausal women with low bone mineral density at lumbar or hip (T score of less than -2.0) were randomly assigned to two groups. They received 8 weeks of treatment in crossover fashion (4 weeks with each study regimen: once weekly alendronate 70 mg and once daily alendronate 10 mg). At end of the study, patients completed the questionnaire for the preference, the convenience and the compliance for a long period. Adverse events were recorded to assess patient tolerability and safety.
Results
120 patients received the treatment and 106 completed the study. Of the patients who completed the questionnaire, 78 patients preferred the 70 mg once weekly dosing regimen compared with the 10 mg once daily regimen (73.6% vs 20.8%) Many patients considered the once weekly dosing more convenient than once daily dosing (80.2% vs 16.0%) and would be easier to comply with for a long-period.
Conclusion
When alendronate 70 mg administered once weekly was compared with alendronate 10 mg administered once daily, alendronate 70 mg once weekly was the preferred dosing regimen.
