Reducing hip fracture risk with risedronate in elderly women with established osteoporosis

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Authors: Tahir Masud, Michael McClung, Piet Geusens

Published Date November 2009 , Volume 2009:4

Tahir Masud¹, Michael McClung², Piet Geusens³

¹Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK; ²Oregon Osteoporosis Center, Portland, Oregon, USA; ³Department of Internal Medicine, Subdivision of Rheumatology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Belgium

Background: There is limited evidence to support the efficacy of current pharmaceutical agents in reducing the risk of hip fracture in older postmenopausal women with established osteoporosis.

Objective: To clarify the efficacy of risedronate in reducing the risk of hip fracture in elderly postmenopausal women aged ≥70 years with established osteoporosis, i.e., those with bone mineral density-defined osteoporosis and a prevalent vertebral fracture.

Methods: Post hoc analysis of the Hip Intervention Program (HIP) study, a randomized controlled trial comparing risedronate with placebo for reducing the risk of hip fracture in elderly women. Women aged 70 to 100 years with established osteoporosis (baseline femoral neck T-score ≤ −2.5 and ≥ 1 prior vertebral fracture) were included. The main outcome measure was 3-year hip fracture incidence in the risedronate and placebo groups.

Results: A total of 1656 women met the inclusion criteria. After 3 years, hip fracture had occurred in 3.8% of risedronate-treated patients and 7.4% of placebo-treated patients (relative risk 0.54; 95% confidence interval 0.32–0.91; P = 0.019).

Conclusion: Risedronate significantly reduced the risk of hip fracture in women aged up to 100 years with established osteoporosis.

Keywords: osteoporosis, postmenopausal, hip fracture, risedronate