Background
Proton pump inhibitor (PPI) medications have been inconsistently shown to be
associated with osteoporotic fractures. The objective was to examine the association of
PPI use with bone outcomes (fracture, bone mineral density [BMD])
Methods
This prospective analysis included 161,806 postmenopausal women ages 50 to 79
years without history of hip fracture enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative
(WHI) Observational Study and Clinical Trials with a mean (SD) follow-up of 7.8 (1.6)
years. Analyses were conducted on 130,487 women with complete information. Medication
information was taken directly from drug containers during in-person interviews
(baseline, year 3). Main outcome measures were self-reported fractures (hip
[adjudicated], clinical spine, lower arm or wrist, and total fractures) and for a
subsample (3 densitometry sites), 3-year change in BMD.
Results
During 1,005,126 person-years of follow-up, 1500 hip fractures, 4881 lower arm
or wrist fractures, 2315 clinical spine fractures and 21247 total fractures occurred.
The multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios for current PPI use were 1.00 (95% CI,
0.71 to 1.40) for hip fracture, 1.47 (CI 1.18–1.82) for clinical spine fracture,
1.26 (CI, 1.05 to 1.51) for lower arm or wrist fracture, and 1.25 (CI, 1.15 to 1.36) for
total fractures. BMD measurements did not vary between PPI users and nonusers at
baseline. PPI use was associated with only a marginal effect on 3-year BMD change at the
hip (p=0.05) but not at other sites.
Conclusion
PPI use was not associated with hip fractures, but was modestly associated with
clinical spine, lower arm or wrist and total fractures.