Patients who do not take their osteoporosis medications: Can we help them become compliant?

Abstract

Patients with chronic diseases frequently do not take their medications correctly. People with osteoporosis are no exception. Epidemiologic data show that noncompliance and nonpersistence should be serious concerns for healthcare professionals who treat this disease. Challenges to having patients improve their medication behaviors include complex dosing regimens, perceived and real side effects, cost and uncertainty about the severity of this disease, and the need for medication. We have developed a substantial literature about noncompliance, and many different interventions have been tested, but behavioral changes are minor and usually fleeting. Understanding why patients with osteoporosis refuse to comply with their medication regimens can help healthcare professionals create and test interventions to improve medication behaviors and reduce fractures that can result from noncompliance and nonpersistence with osteoporosis medicines.