Treatment satisfaction in postmenopausal women suboptimally adherent to bisphosphonates who transitioned to denosumab compared with risedronate or ibandronate.

Context: For many patients, adhering to postmenopausal osteoporosis treatment is a challenge. Higher treatment satisfaction is associated with greater persistence with these therapies, which is associated with better outcomes.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the change in treatment satisfaction in postmenopausal women who were suboptimally adherent to daily or weekly oral bisphosphonates and who transitioned to denosumab vs a monthly oral bisphosphonate.

Design And Setting: Pooled data of outpatients from two international, multicenter, randomized, open-label studies were analyzed.

Patients: Postmenopausal women (n = 1703) age 55 years or greater with low bone mineral density who were suboptimally adherent with prior oral bisphosphonate therapy, as assessed by the Osteoporosis-Specific Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, were included in the study.

Interventions: Patients received denosumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody to receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand, 60 mg s.c. every 6 months vs the oral bisphosphonates ibandronate or risedronate, 150 mg once monthly for 12 months.

Main Outcome Measures: Change in treatment satisfaction scores from baseline to months 6 and 12 were measured using the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM). The TSQM is a validated tool that measures perception of four domains of treatment satisfaction: effectiveness, side effects, convenience, and global satisfaction.

Results: Patients in both treatment groups showed improvement from baseline for all four TSQM domains at 6 and 12 months. However, the denosumab group had significantly (all P < .001) greater improvements among all four TSQM domains at 6 and 12 months compared with the oral bisphosphonate group.

Conclusions: Women with low adherence to oral bisphosphonates reported greater treatment satisfaction when transitioned to denosumab vs switching to a monthly oral bisphosphonate.