Table 2.

Reasons for discontinuation among patients willing or not willing to restart therapy

Reason for discontinuation	Not willing N = 104	Somewhat to extremely willing N = 195	P value
Perceived side effects
I experienced side effects	46 (44.2)	40 (20.5)	<0.001
I heard negative news reports about OP medications	35 (33.7)	40 (20.5)	0.013
Fear of side effects	25 (24.0)	35 (17.9)	0.211
I knew family or friends who had bad experiences with OP medications	10 (9.6)	5 (2.6)	0.008
Safety
I was concerned about long-term safety	42 (40.4)	50 (25.6)	0.009
I was concerned about interactions with other medications	4 (3.8)	14 (7.2)	0.248
Cost/coverage
Cost of medication	9 (8.7)	36 (18.5)	0.024
It wasn’t covered by my insurance	2 (1.9)	14 (7.2)	0.054
Dosing/regimen
My health care provider told me to stop taking the OP prescription	43 (41.3)	80 (41.0)	0.957
I felt like I already take too many medications	7 (6.7)	16 (8.2)	0.649
Inconvenient/complex dosing	1 (1.0)	2 (1.0)	–
Problems remembering to take it	1 (1.0)	11 (5.6)	0.050
Beliefs about osteoporosis/medication
I did not think the prescription would work/was effective	6 (5.8)	11 (5.6)	0.9636
I did not believe that my osteoporosis was serious enough to take a medication	3 (2.9)	12 (6.2)	0.2174
I did not understand the purpose of the medication	0 (0.0)	3 (1.5)	–
I did not believe that my OP was life threatening	4 (3.8)	12 (6.2)	0.3984
I did not think that I needed OP medication	4 (3.8)	9 (4.6)	0.7561
Alternatives
I decided to take over-the-counter vitamins and supplements for my osteoporosis instead of prescription medication	22 (21.2)	32 (16.4)	0.3098
I decided to try lifestyle changes instead of taking OP medications	20 (19.2)	22 (11.3)	0.0596

Values are presented as N (%). Italicized data indicate statistically significant differences between patients not willing or at all willing to restart treatment

OP osteoporosis