Study of Drug Utilization Pattern of Calcium, Vitamin D Supplements, and Anti-Osteoporosis Drugs in Patients With Osteoporotic Fracture: A Prospective Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: This study was carried out to assess the drug utilization pattern of calcium, Vitamin D supplements, and anti-osteoporosis drugs in patients with osteoporotic fracture in an Indian teaching hospital.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out for 6 months in outpatients receiving treatment from the orthopedic department of an Indian teaching hospital. Demographic details, comorbidities, types of fracture, laboratory parameters, and drug therapy were collected from the patient case records who met the study criteria and documented in the data collection form. All the collected details were later analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: A total of 73 patient’s prescriptions were reviewed, in which 45.2% were male and 54.8% were female. Majority of the patients were in the age group of 50–60 years with mean age of 63.52±11.06 years. Hypertension (27.16%) was the highest comorbidity identified in the study followed by diabetes (18.51%) and coronary artery disease (14.81%). Of the total patients, 65.75% were prescribed with calcium and Vitamin D supplements and 2.73% received bisphosphonates.Conclusion: The study shows the pattern of drug use in elderly with osteoporotic fractures. Since calcium and Vitamin D are vital for treating osteoporotic fractures, adequate monitoring of serum levels of calcium and Vitamin D3 may help to prescribe doses with desired need and safety level.

A Study on Pharmacological Agents Used among Patients with Osteoporosis

“…Another study carried out by Tripathy A et al also reported that the cases found above the age of 50 years topped the list. 12,14 In our study, the most common symptom and the reason for hospital admission was back pain, difficulty in walking, difficulty in lifting an object, and hip pain. This can be attributed to the negative calcium balance and weakness of vertebra and other large bones.…”

“…These results are in accordance with a study conducted by Tang BM et al which showed that calcium or calcium combined with Vitamin D were used for the therapy of osteoporosis with combinations of NSAIDs. 16 Research conducted by Augustine AM et al 14 also had similar results, where frequently prescribed drugs were NSAIDs, Antiulcer agents, calcium supplements and multi Vitamins. But, contradictory results were reported in a study conducted by Hajcsar EE et al 17 Where bisphosphonates were the commonly used drug.…”

A real-world study of treatment patterns among patients with osteoporotic fracture: analysis of a Japanese hospital database

“…The treatment patterns observed in this study are broadly aligned with the results of other studies conducted across different countries (United States [ 20 , 21 ]; China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand [ 22 ]; Korea [ 21 ]; Spain [ 21 ]; and the UK [ 23 ]), which found that bisphosphonates were the most commonly used drug category after osteoporotic fracture. Additionally, studies conducted in India [ 24 ], Italy [ 25 ], and France [ 26 ] observed that vitamin D 3 was frequently prescribed to patients after fracture, although the literature regarding vitamin D 3 supplementation patterns post-fracture is limited. Moreover, in agreement with our findings, bisphosphonates and active vitamin D 3 were the most commonly prescribed treatments after hip and vertebral fracture in a recent analysis of health insurance claims in Japan [ 27 ].…”