Antiresorptive Medication Use Is not Associated With Acute Cardiovascular Risk: An Observational Study

CONTEXT: Bisphosphonates have been reported to be cardioprotective in some, but not all, studies. It is unknown whether denosumab (Dmab) use protects against cardiovascular events (CVEs).

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether oral bisphosphonate (oBP) or Dmab use is associated with CVEs in persons with incident fracture.

METHODS: Participants with an incident minimal trauma fracture from the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study, a population-based cohort from NSW, Australia, were followed between 2005/2009 and 2017. Questionnaire data were linked to hospital admissions (Admitted Patients Data Collection [APDC]) by the Centre for Health Record Linkage). Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS) and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) data sets were provided by Services Australia. Data was stored in a secure computing environment (Secure Unified Research Environment). Fractures, CVEs, and comorbidities were identified from the APDC and oBP and Dmab medication from the PBS. oBP and Dmab users were matched to never users (NoRx) by propensity scores. The main outcome measures were association between oBP and Dmab with CVE (acute myocardial infarction, unstable angina, cerebrovascular accident, and transient ischemic attack) and were determined using a stratified Cox's proportional hazards model.

RESULTS: There were 880 pairs of oBP and NoRx (616 women) and 770 pairs of Dmab and NoRx (615 women) followed for ∼4.3 years. CVE risk was similar for oBP and NoRx Hazard Ratios (HR) women, 0.88 [95% CI 0.65-1.18]; men, 1.07 [95% CI 0.72-1.57]). Similar findings were obtained for Dmab (Hazard Ratios (HR) women, 1.08 [95% CI 0.78-1.50]; men, 1.55 [95% CI 0.96-2.48]).

CONCLUSION: oBP and Dmab use was not associated with CVEs.