Different effects of chronic omeprazole use on osteoporotic fractures rate in the elderly

Abstract Aims To investigate the potential association of chronic use of omeprazole with the occurrence of osteoporotic fractures (OF) in community‐dwelling elderly subjects. Methods The cohort consisted of community‐dwelling residents aged >65 years registered with a large health maintenance organization in Israel between January 2002 and December 2016. Data were retrospectively collected from the electronic medical files on demographics, parameters known to be associated with OF, diagnoses of osteoporotic hip, wrist, and vertebral fractures, and chronic use of omeprazole (>11 prescriptions/year). Time to OF/death/end of study was calculated from the beginning of the study (2002). The risk of fractures in the chronic users of omeprazole was analyzed by multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model. Results In total, 46 805 subjects were included (41% men), mean age 83.4±6.4 years, of whom 10 272 (21.9%) were chronic users of omeprazole. During 14 years of follow‐up, OF were diagnosed in 414 (4.0%) omeprazole users and 1007 (2.8%) omeprazole nonusers ( p < 0.001). In a Cox regression model adjusted for age and gender only, chronic use of omeprazole was associated with a 16% excess of OF. However, when parameters known to be associated with OF were entered into the multivariate Cox regression model, chronic use of omeprazole was not found to be an independent risk factor for OF, either overall (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.965, 95% confidence interval 0.86–1.08, P = .55) or specifically, in the ≥85 years age group (adjusted hazard ration = 0.780, 95% confidence interval 0.635–0.958, P < .05) in which an inverse correlation between omeprazole use and OF, was demonstrated. Conclusions Chronic use of omeprazole was not associated with the occurrence of OF in elders.