The comparison of effectiveness of alendronate and risedronate in osteoporosis treatment

Abstract

Objective: This study was performed to compare the effects of once weekly alendronate sodium and once weekly risedronate sodium treatment on bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal osteoporotic women. Materials and Methods: One hundred and twelve patients were included in this study and randomly classified into two groups. Group I (n=60) received alendronate Na (70 mg/week) and group II (n=52) received risedronate Na (35 mg/week). All patients received 1 g calcium per day in addition to these therapies. The study duration was limited to 12 months. Age, body mass index, duration of menopause and age at menarche were recorded. The efficacy of the treatment was evaluated by BMD measurements at lumbar spine and proximal femur at the beginning and 12th months of the treatment. The statistical analyses were done by Shapiro-Wilk test, ANCOVA and Spearman test. Results: The mean age was 56.65±8.25 years in group I and 56.69±7.75 years in the group II. There was no significant difference in baseline characteristics between the two groups (p>0.05). Significant improvement was found at the end of the treatment in groups itself by lumbar spine and proximal femur BMD (Group I: p<0.05, Group II: p<0.05). There was no significant difference between two groups by lumbar spine and proximal femur BMD (p>0.05). Conclusion: Our results suggest that both treatment protocols provide similar efficacy in treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis and almost have similar effects in enhancing the BMD.