Can Educational Interventions Improve Osteoporotic Women's Adherence to Treatment? A Literature Review

Poor adherence to medication and an unhealthy lifestyle increase risk of fracture, hospitalization, and medical costs in osteoporotic individuals. Therefore, a literature review was conducted using PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and Scopus databases to identify educational interventions that improve adherence to medications and healthy lifestyles in osteoporotic women. The search was limited to the articles published between January 2002 and January 2015, and they were selected only if they were interventional studies. Twelve studies were included, in which 7 studies were focused on interventions to improve medication adherence, 4 studies on improving adherence to healthy lifestyles, and 1 study was focused on both. Educational interventions, such as tailored interventions with counseling sessions, were effective in improving adherence to medications and healthy lifestyles; however, educational materials such as leaflets did not improve adherence. Further studies are needed to investigate adherence to healthy lifestyles because this is poorly described in the literature.