Table 1.
Calculated relative risk (RR), number needed to treat (NNT)a and respective 95% confidence intervals (CI) of radiological and clinical vertebral fractures in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis (NPFx number of patients with at least one vertebral fracture, NPR number of patients randomized, by treatment group, bold type indicates significant outcomes)
| Mths | Total no. of subjects | NPFx/NPR Active | NPFx/NPR Controls | RR (95%CI) | NNT (95%CI) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radiological vertebral fractures | |||||||
| Alendronate [27] | 50 | 4432 | 43/2214 | 78/2218 | 0.55 (0.38 to 0.79) | 64 (38 to 152) | |
| Alendronate [11] | 48 | 3658 | 107/1841 | 197/1817 | 0.54 (0.43 to 0.67) | 20 (14 to 31) | |
| Alendronate [10] | 36 | 2027 | 78/1022 | 145/1005 | 0.53 (0.41 to 0.68) | 15 (10 to 24) | |
| Alendronate [50] | 36 | 994 | 17/597 | 22/397 | 0.51 (0.28 to 0.95) | 38 (18 to 349) | |
| Calcitonin [20] | 60 | 1255 | 171/944 | 70/311 | 0.81 (0.63 to 1.03) | 23 (10 to −154) | |
| Calcitriol [86] | 36 | 622 | 66/314 | 155/308 | 0.42 (0.33 to 0.52) | 4 (2 to 5) | |
| Calcitriol [31] | 36 | 86 | 10/47 | 6/39 | 1.38 (0.55 to 3.45) | −15 (12 to −3) | |
| Calcium VitD [69] | 52 | 191 | 27/91 | 34/100 | 0.87 (0.58 to 1.33) | 24 (5 to −11) | |
| Etidronate [37] | 36 | 380 | 28/196 | 51/184 | 0.55 (0.36 to 0.82) | 8 (4 to 18) | |
| Etidronate [54] | 48 | 100 | 4/50 | 9/50 | 0.44 (0.15 to 1.3) | 11 (3 to −95) | |
| Fluoride [71] | 48 | 164 | 2/84 | 8/80 | 0.25 (0.6 to 1.01) | 14 (6 to 67) | |
| Fluoride [77] | 36 | 144 | 20/99 | 30/45 | 0.3 (0.2 to 0.47) | 3 (1 to 4) | |
| Fluoride [68] | 48 | 110 | 7/54 | 22/56 | 0.33 (0.16 to 0.66) | 4 (2 to 8) | |
| HRT [70] | 42 | 128 | 3/64 | 4/64 | 0.75 (0.18 to 3.22) | 65 (9 to −20) | |
| Ipriflavone [6] | 36 | 472 | 7/233 | 8/239 | 0.9 (0.33 to 2.44) | 292 (25 to −40) | |
| Pamidronate [16] | 36 | 91 | 5/46 | 15/45 | 0.33 (0.14 to 0.78) | 5 (2 to 13) | |
| PTH [61] | 21 | 1637 | 41/1093 | 64/544 | 0.32 (0.22 to 0.46) | 13 (9 to 20) | |
| PTH [51] | 36 | 34 | 1/17 | 4/17 | 0.25 (0.04 to 1.67) | 6 (2 to 213) | |
| Raloxifene II [28] | 48 | 7705 | 278/5129 | 225/2576 | 0.62 (0.52 to 0.73) | 31 (21 to 48) | |
| Raloxifene I [30] | 36 | 7705 | 272/5129 | 231/2576 | 0.59 (0.5 to 0.7) | 28 (20 to 42) | |
| Risedronate [38] | 36 | 1641 | 61/821 | 93/820 | 0.66 (0.48 to 0.89) | 26 (14 to 83) | |
| Risedronate [72] | 36 | 816 | 53/408 | 89/408 | 0.6 (0.44 to 0.81) | 12 (7 to 26) | |
| Risedronate [22] | 36 | 132 | 28/88 | 20/44 | 0.7 (0.44 to 1.11) | 8 (3 to −42) | |
| Clinical vertebral fractures | |||||||
| Alendronate [11] | 48 | 3658 | 38/1841 | 67/1817 | 0.56 (0.38 to 0.82) | 62 (36 to 169) | |
| Alendronate [10] | 36 | 2027 | 23/1022 | 50/1005 | 0.45 (0.28 to 0.73) | 37 (22 to 84) | |
| Raloxifene [30] | 36 | 7705 | 86/5129 | 81/2576 | 0.53 (0.4 to 0.72) | 69 (44 to 136) | |
a The number of patients to be treated to avoid one radiological vertebral fracture over the duration of the study