Prescription of alendronate and risedronate in men: off-label use in a health area.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Alendronate and risedronate are both effective and safe treatments for osteoporosis in men, but only risedronate has this indication in its data-sheet. We compared their use by gender. PATIENT AND METHODS Retrospective descriptive study of prescriptions of risedronate and alendronate in 2012 in primary care in the northwest area of the Community of Madrid. We compared patients and defined daily doses (DDD) dispensed by gender. RESULTS 14.857 patients used 1.847.370 DDD of alendronate or risedronate, 1.145 (7.7%) patients were men. In women alendronate was most prescribed (55% vs. 45%) than risedronate. Risedronate was preferred in men, 47.6% vs. 52.4%, resulting in a statistically significant difference (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS Risedronate is preferred to alendronate in men, which is often used off-label, despite the existence of alternatives.