Treatment persistence and compliance with a combination of calcium and vitamin D

Abstract

Introduction The persistence and compliance of patients in Spain with calcium and vitamin D supplementation are unknown, and thus the purpose of the present study was to determine the current figures.

Methods This was a multicenter, cross-sectional study. Throughout Spain, 1342 primary-care physicians and specialists were asked to recruit 7888 patients aged 45 years or over, who had been prescribed with a calcium and vitamin D combination (CaVitD) at least 1 year prior to the study. Data on biodemographics, the reason for prescription and fracture risk factors were collected. Persistence with treatment, reasons for discontinuation, and compliance among persistent patients were assessed and patients' profiles analyzed.

Results From the recruited sample, a total of 7624 patients were finally analyzed. Most subjects were postmenopausal (mean age 65.7 ± 9.4 years). The main reason for CaVitD prescription was osteoporosis (56.3%), started 2–5 years earlier. A family history of osteoporosis (41.4%) and previous fractures (40.7%) occurred frequently in the patients' clinical histories. At the study visit, 27.7% had discontinued CaVitD treatment, the main reason being fatigue due to the long-term treatment. Just 31.2% of persistent patients were adherent. Non-persistent patients were more likely to be smokers, alcohol consumers, have a long immobilization history, malabsorption syndrome and previous bone fractures.

Conclusions Only two in ten patients effectively comply with CaVitD treatment after 1 year or more of its prescription.

Key words:

• CALCIUM AND VITAMIN D COMBINATION
• REASONS FOR TREATMENT DISCONTINUATION
• PERSISTENCE AND COMPLIANCE

Acknowledgement

The authors gratefully acknowledge the collaboration of all clinical investigators who participated in the recruitment of subjects for the UNICAD study.

Conflict of interest  Nil.

Source of funding  The study was financed by an unrestricted grant from Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals Iberia.