SynthesisBMC musculoskeletal disorders2005
Does alendronate reduce the risk of fracture in men? A meta-analysis incorporating prior knowledge of anti-fracture efficacy in women.
Synthesis in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2005. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of alendronate for treatment of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Medicine · 2018Pooled it
- Efficacy of bisphosphonates against osteoporosis in adult men: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2015Pooled it
- 2010 clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis in Canada: summary.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2010Guideline
- Anti-fracture efficacy of risedronic acid in men: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Clinical drug investigation · 2009Pooled it
- Trial
- The osteoporosis care gap in men with fragility fractures: the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2008Trial
- Alendronate for Effective Treatment of Male Osteoporosis: An Insight.Current pharmaceutical design · 2025Review
- Management of Osteoporosis in Men: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- The Efficacy and Safety of Chinese Herbal Medicine Xianling Gubao Capsule Combined With Alendronate in the Treatment of Primary Osteoporosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 20 Randomized Controlled Trials.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2021Article
- Comparison of screening strategies for prevalent vertebral fractures in South Korea: vertebral fracture assessment vs. spine radiography.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2018Article
- Comparison of the Male Osteoporosis Risk Estimation Score (MORES) With FRAX in Identifying Men at Risk for Osteoporosis.Annals of family medicine · 2016Article
- Cost-Effectiveness of Osteoporosis Screening Strategies for Men.Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research · 2016Article
- Article
- Bone Density Screening and Re-screening in Postmenopausal Women and Older Men.Current osteoporosis reports · 2015Review
- Treatment of primary osteoporosis in men.Clinical interventions in aging · 2015Review
- Cost-effectiveness of training rural providers to identify and treat patients at risk for fragility fractures.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2014Article
- Male osteoporosis: clinical approach and management in family practice.Singapore medical journal · 2014Article
- The potential economic benefits of improved postfracture care: a cost-effectiveness analysis of a fracture liaison service in the US health-care system.Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research · 2014Article
- Osteoporosis in men: epidemiology and treatment with denosumab.Clinical interventions in aging · 2014Review
- Idiopathic osteoporosis in men.Current osteoporosis reports · 2013Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlendronate has been found to reduce the risk of fractures in postmenopausal women as demonstrated in multiple randomized controlled trials enrolling thousands of women. Yet there is a paucity of such randomized controlled trials in osteoporotic men. Our objective was to systematically review the anti-fracture efficacy of alendronate in men with low bone mass or with a history of prevalent fracture(s) and incorporate prior knowledge of alendronate efficacy in women in the analysis.
methodsWe examined randomized controlled trials in men comparing the anti-fracture efficacy of alendronate to placebo or calcium or vitamin D, or any combination of these. Studies of men with secondary causes of osteoporosis other than hypogonadism were excluded. We searched the following electronic databases (without language restrictions) for potentially relevant citations: Medline, Medline in Process (1966-May 24/2004), and Embase (1996-2004). We also contacted the manufacturer of the drug in search of other relevant trials. Two reviewers independently identified two trials (including 375 men), which met all inclusion criteria. Data were abstracted by one reviewer and checked by another. Results of the male trials were pooled using Bayesian random effects models, incorporating prior information of anti-fracture efficacy from meta-analyses of women.
resultsThe odds ratios of incident fractures in men (with 95% credibility intervals) with alendronate (10 mg daily) were: vertebral fractures, 0.44 (0.23, 0.83) and non-vertebral fractures, 0.60 (0.29, 1.44).
conclusionIn conclusion, alendronate decreases the risk of vertebral fractures in men at risk. There is currently insufficient evidence of a statistically significant reduction of non-vertebral fractures, but the paucity of trials in men limit the statistical power to detect such an effect.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.