Korean J Clin Pharm.  2021 Sep;31(3):180-187. 10.24304/kjcp.2021.31.3.180.

Arthralgia and Myalgia Associated with the Use of Bisphosphonate: An Active Monitoring Study

• Song Jw
• Park SH
• Yoon D
• Lee MS
• Lee JM
• Kim NY
• Kim YW
• Lee JY
• Shin JY

• KMID: 2520992
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.24304/kjcp.2021.31.3.180

Abstract

Objective
We investigated arthralgia and myalgia associated with the use of oral bisphosphonate (BP) by conducting a survey of patient.
Methods
The pharmacists conducted a survey between 1 Oct 2019 and 30 Sep 2020 among patients who were dispensed BP in community pharmacies to assess their demographic and medical characteristics, and their experiences with, and process for pain. Logistic regression analyses were performed to find the risk factors associated with the pain, and the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were determined.
Results
A total of 160 patients who used BP participated in the survey (74 [46.3%] used risedronate; 61 [38.1%] used alendronate; 23 [14.4%] used ibandronate), and 20 (12.5%) of them experienced pain. Significant statistical differences of the characteristics between patients who experienced pain or not were observed regarding menopause, and parity. Compared with women who had one or two parity, women who had more than three parity were associated with the decreased risk of pain (OR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.04-0.98). Moreover, steady exercise was associated with the decreased risk of pain compared to less exercise (OR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.14-0.98).
Conclusion
Our findings suggest that the risk of pain in BP-treated patients might be different regarding the different ingredients of BP, and dosing frequency. This survey highlights a need for a further safety research to understand the factors influencing the pain associated with the BP treatment.

Keyword

Adverse drug reaction; bisphosphonate; survey