Review of Comparative Effectiveness of Treatments to Prevent Fractures
Authors: Robert Karis
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2008)

Letters3 June 2008Review of Comparative Effectiveness of Treatments to Prevent FracturesRobert Karis, MDRobert Karis, MDFrom San Francisco, CA 94127.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-148-11-200806030-00020 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:MacLean and colleagues (1) inappropriately use the same data in 2 mutually exclusive categories, thereby increasing the statistical significance in both of these categories.Figure 4 in the article concerns hip fractures in high-risk patients. The data source for 3021 of these patients is the review article by Stevenson and colleagues (reference 22). In Table 15 of the review by Stevenson and colleagues, it is evident that the original data are found in the 1996 FIT (Fracture Intervention Trial) of 2027 patients (2) and the 1995 study by Liberman and colleagues of 994 patients (3).Appendix Figure ...References1. MacLean C, Newberry S, Maglione M, McMahon M, Ranganath V, Suttorp M, et al. Systematic review: comparative effectiveness of treatments to prevent fractures in men and women with low bone density or osteoporosis. Ann Intern Med. 2008;148:197-213. [PMID: 18087050] LinkGoogle Scholar2. Black DM, Cummings SR, Karpf DB, Cauley JA, Thompson DE, Nevitt MC, et al. Randomised trial of effect of alendronate on risk of fracture in women with existing vertebral fractures. Fracture Intervention Trial Research Group. Lancet. 1996;348:1535-41. [PMID: 8950879] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Liberman UA, Weiss SR, Bröll J, Minne HW, Quan H, Bell NH, et al. Effect of oral alendronate on bone mineral density and the incidence of fractures in postmenopausal osteoporosis. The Alendronate Phase III Osteoporosis Treatment Study Group. N Engl J Med. 1995;333:1437-43. [PMID: 7477143] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Robert Karis, MDAffiliations: From San Francisco, CA 94127.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoSystematic Review: Comparative Effectiveness of Treatments to Prevent Fractures in Men and Women with Low Bone Density or Osteoporosis Catherine MacLean , Sydne Newberry , Margaret Maglione , Maureen McMahon , Veena Ranganath , Marika Suttorp , Walter Mojica , Martha Timmer , Alicia Alexander , Melissa McNamara , Sheetal B. Desai , Annie Zhou , Susan Chen , Jason Carter , Carlo Tringale , Di Valentine , Breanne Johnsen , and Jennifer Grossman Review of Comparative Effectiveness of Treatments to Prevent Fractures Catherine MacLean , Margaret Maglione , and Marika Suttorp Review of Comparative Effectiveness of Treatments to Prevent Fractures Harold Rosen Review of Comparative Effectiveness of Treatments to Prevent Fractures Lionel S. Lim Review of Comparative Effectiveness of Treatments to Prevent Fractures John L. Stock , John L. Mershon , and Michael Jay Schoenfeld Review of Comparative Effectiveness of Treatments to Prevent Fractures Dennis M. Black , Steven Boonen , Pierre Delmas , and Kenneth W. Lyles Metrics 3 June 2008Volume 148, Issue 11Page: 886KeywordsConflicts of interestHip fracturesInformation storage and retrievalStatistical data ePublished: 3 June 2008 Issue Published: 3 June 2008 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2008 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...