Insufficient persistence of and adherence to osteoporosis pharmacotherapy in Japan

Introduction Only a few large-scale studies have examined the care gap in Japan. The aim of this study was to investigate the persistence of and adherence to osteoporosis pharmacotherapy in Japan. Materials and Methods The rates of continuation (persistence) of and adherence to osteoporosis pharmacotherapy were investigated using medical insurance data, issued from July 2013 to December 2018, from the medical care system for elderly individuals in Hokkaido, Japan. Results The study included 7918 male and 52,585 female patients. Persistence rates were 62.1% in the first year and 45.3% in the second year. There were 33,096 patients who discontinued medication; 8296 patients resumed medication during the observation period of 730 days. The median time to the discontinuation of medication for all the patients was 702 days. The 2-year medication possession ratio (MPR) was 63.8%; 30,989 patients (51.2%) had an MPR ≥ 80% and 20,788 (34.4%) had an MPR