Across all treatments for osteoporosis, patients prefer efficacy to dosing

When ranking osteoporosis treatment attributes by “importance,” postmenopausal women^* consistently ranked drug effectiveness ahead of dosing frequency

Fracture risk reduction—consistently rated as more important than dosing frequency

• Drug effectiveness: How effective the drug is (eg, ability to reduce the risk of fractures).
• Dosing frequency: How often you take the drug (eg, daily, weekly, monthly).
• Relative to other attributes on the survey, “Drug effectiveness” ranked higher than “Dosing procedure” (90%), “Time on market” (89%), “Formulation” (81%), “Drug interactions” (71%), “Out-of-pocket costs” (67%), and “Side effects” (51%).
• Among the total sample, 73% ranked “Drug effectiveness” as either the #1, #2, or #3 attribute of treatment. Results across other assessed attributes included “Side effects” (76%), “Drug interactions” (52%), “Out-of-pocket costs” (42%), “Dosing frequency” (17%), “Formulation” (17%), “Dosing procedure” (10%), and “Time on market” (14%).
• Among the treated sample (n=421), 80% ranked “Drug effectiveness” as either the #1, #2, or #3 attribute of treatment. Results across other assessed attributes included “Side effects” (70%), “Drug interactions” (53%), “Out-of-pocket costs” (39%), “Dosing frequency” (22%), “Formulation” (17%), “Dosing procedure” (10%), and “Time on market” (9%).

The PREFER study¹: an evaluation of patient preference among 8 key attributes of osteoporosis therapy

Study objective:

• To evaluate patient preference among 8 attributes of osteoporosis therapy among postmenopausal women diagnosed with or at risk of osteoporosis, regardless of whether they are currently taking therapy for osteoporosis.

Study inclusion criteria:

• Women 50 years or older identified as having a diagnosis of osteoporosis, being at risk of osteoporosis, or having a family history of osteoporosis based on their responses to the 2003 or 2004 National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS), an Internet-based, cross-sectional survey of the healthcare attitudes, behaviors, and treatment choices of adult patients.

Study method and population:

• Data collected by invitational response to an online survey. Of the 5,634 eligible women invited to participate, 999 completed the survey (421 reported current treatment with at least one osteoporosis medication). Of these, 49% reported that they were diagnosed with osteoporosis in the NHWS, and the remaining 51% considered themselves at risk or had a family history of osteoporosis.

Study assessment:

• Participants completed a single, online survey, which asked them to rank attributes of osteoporosis therapies in order of importance and to rate the relative importance of each attribute. Patients were asked to evaluate the following product attribute: specific item in survey instrument (in the order in which the item appeared):
• Side effects: Side effects of the drug (eg, whether or not the drug can cause stomach/digestive problems)
• Out-of-pocket costs: Out-of-pocket costs of the drug (eg, how much money you have to pay for the drug yourself)
• Dosing frequency: How often you take the drug (eg, daily, weekly, monthly)
• Formulation: How you take the drug (eg, oral tablets, inhaled, injection, patch, or intravenous)
• Drug effectiveness: How effective the drug is (eg, ability to reduce the risk of fractures)
• Dosing procedure: Procedure for taking the drug (eg, what time of the day you have to take it; whether or not you have to take it with food; how long you have to wait to eat after taking it)
• Drug interaction: Whether or not the drug interacts with other drugs you take
• Time on market: How long the drug has been on the market

Reference: 1. Data available on request from Merck & Co., Inc., Professional Services-DAP, WP1-27, PO Box 4, West Point, PA 19486-0004. Please specify information package 20551433(1)-FOS.