A telephone-based intervention for increasing the use of osteoporosis medication: a randomized controlled trial

To evaluate the effectiveness of a telephone-based "virtual" osteoporosis clinic in increasing the use of osteoporosis medication assessed at 1 year after receipt of a prescription. Randomized controlled trial. Women 60 years and older with previously undiagnosed osteoporosis were randomized to evaluation and treatment by a dedicated telephone-based osteoporosis clinic with monthly telephone follow-up until medication was successfully started (intervention) or to usual care provided by their primary care physician (control). A successful outcome was defined as having filled a prescription for a 3-month supply of medication within 130 days, marking 1 year and 30 days since enrollment. A total of 235 women underwent randomization, and 211 received the allocation. Of 109 women in the telephone-based osteoporosis clinic group, 75 (68.8%) were using osteoporosis medication at 1 year compared with 46 of 102 women (45.1%) in the usual care group (P