RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Compliance and treatment satisfaction of post menopausal women treated for osteoporosis. Compliance with osteoporosis treatment

Background: Adherence to anti-osteoporosis treatments is poor, exposing treated women to increased fracture risk. Determinants of poor adherence are poorly understood. The study aims to determine physician- and patient-rated treatment compliance with osteoporosis treatments and to evaluate factors influencing compliance. Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional pharmacoepidemiological study with a randomly-selected sample of 420 GPs, 154 rheumatologists and 110 gynaecologists practicing in France. Investigators included post-menopausal women with a diagnosis of osteoporosis and a treatment initiated in the previous six months. Investigators completed a questionnaire on clinical features, treatments and medical history, and on patient compliance. Patients completed a questionnaire on sociodemographic features, lifestyle, attitudes and knowledge about osteoporosis, treatment compliance, treatment satisfaction and quality of life. Treatment compliance was evaluated with the Morisky Medication-taking Adherence Scale. Variables collected in the questionnaires were evaluated for association with compliance using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: 785 women were evaluated. Physicians considered 95.4 % of the sample to be compliant, but only 65.5% of women considered themselves compliant. The correlation between patient and physician perceptions of compliance was low (: 0.11 [95 % CI: 0.06 to 0.16]). Patient-rated compliance was highest for monthl