The utilisation and expenditure of medicines for the prophylaxis and treatment of osteoporosis.

The elderly population represent the fastest growing age-group and the incidence of osteoporotic related fractures is likely to increase with continued ageing of the population. This study determined the prescribing patterns on the Health Services Executive's (HSE) Primary Care Reimbursement Services Scheme (HSE-PCRS) of medicines dispensed for the prophylaxis and treatment of osteoporosis in Ireland. The HSE - PCRS prescription databases were analysed for the years 2004/2005. Approximately 65% of patients (total 60,000) were dispensed either Alendronate (Fosamax once weekly) or Risedronate (Actonel once weekly). The majority of the patients (69.3%) were over 70 years. The study identified that the longer a patient was prescribed prednisolone the greater the likelihood of subsequently being prescribed a bisphosphonate. Approximately 50% of patients on long-term steroids did not receive prophylaxis for osteoporosis. There were low levels of co-prescribing (2.5%) with potentially interacting drugs. Levels of co-prescribing with proton pump inhibitors was 22%.