Ten vs Five Years of Bisphosphonate Treatment for Postmenopausal Osteoporosis: Enough of a Good Thing

In the 10 years since the first results from the Fracture Intervention Trial (FIT) were published,^1,2 it has been relatively straightforward to know when to start bisphosphonate therapy for women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. Clear fracture reduction benefit was shown for women with prior vertebral fracture or bone mineral density (BMD) T scores of −2.5 or lower. However, the issue of when to stop bisphosphonate therapy is less clear, and clinical practice guidelines have been almost completely silent on this important decision point.³