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Zoledronic Acid for Osteoporosis in the Elderly

Maintenance of Skeletal Integrity in Frail Elders

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT00558012
Acronym
ZEST
Enrollment
181
Registered
2007-11-14
Start date
2007-12-31
Completion date
2014-02-28
Last updated
2015-07-31

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Bone Loss, Fragility Fractures, Osteoporosis

Keywords

Osteoporosis, Bone loss, Frail Geriatric Women, Nursing Home Patients, Fragility Fractures

Brief summary

This trial will examine the safety, efficacy and feasibility of a single dose of intravenous zoledronic acid in the maintenance of skeletal integrity for frail, institutionalized women, who are most at risk for the deleterious outcomes of osteoporosis. The investigators will test the hypothesis that in institutionalized elderly women a single dose of intravenous zoledronic acid therapy will: (1) be efficacious as demonstrated by stability or improvement in bone mass measurements and reductions in bone turnover; (2) be safe and feasible; and (3) provide estimates for vertebral and nonvertebral fracture reduction in this cohort for use in planning a future study.

Detailed description

This is a 2-year, randomized, double-blind, calcium/vitamin D-controlled clinical trial of a single dose of therapy with at least 12 months follow-up. All participants will receive calcium and vitamin D throughout the trial. At baseline, 190 women will be randomized in a 1:1 allocation to zoledronic acid (group 1) or zoledronic acid placebo (group 2). At the end of 24 months, women will be followed to gather data on longer term fragility fracture rates and survival until all participants have completed 24 months of follow-up.

Interventions

DRUGIntravenous zoledronic acid

Intravenous zoledronic acid 5.0 mg once

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENTVitamin D 800 IU/daily

Daily divided dose

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENTCalcium 1200 mg/daily

supplement plus diet

Sponsors

National Institutes of Health (NIH)
CollaboratorNIH
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
CollaboratorNIH
University of Pittsburgh
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
65 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* We will include elderly women 65 years and older if they reside in a nursing home or an assisted living facility and have a known history of osteoporosis, as determined by history of an adult fragility fracture or bone mineral density criteria for osteoporosis (T-score -2.5 at the total hip, femoral neck or spine) or low bone mass (T-score \< -2.0 at the total hip, femoral neck or spine, consistent with the National Osteoporosis Foundation Treatment guidelines). If a participant's spine and or hip are not evaluable (due to surgery, calcifications, artifact in the scan area, scoliosis, etc.), they may be included in the study with a T-score of ≤ -2.0 at the forearm. * Elders will be chosen without consideration of ethnic or racial background. We chose frail, institutionalized women because 70-85% of them have osteoporosis and this age group is substantially under-treated. * We will include all who qualify, if they are able to weight bear or assist with transfer to chair, to endure that the results have maximum generalizability to the nursing home population as a whole.

Exclusion criteria

* Children will be excluded because they are not frail, institutionalized elders. * Men will be excluded because they do not become postmenopausal and are less likely to become osteoporotic. * We will exclude institutionalized women with subacute illnesses who are not expected to survive or who will be discharged in less than 2 years. * We will also exclude patient with a contraindication to bisphosphonate, such as hypocalcemia, allergy, pervious adverse event (excluding gastrointestinal disorders), or currently on an oral bisphosphonate. * We will exclude patients with a calculated creatinine clearance of \< 30 ml/mm. * We will exclude women scheduled for or in need of a tooth extraction as this procedure has been associated with osteonecrosis of the jaw in patients with cancer given multiple coursed of high dose intravenous bisphosphonates. * We will screen for these conditions by detailed history, physical exam (including dental exam), chart review, and baseline laboratory analyses, including BUN/creatinine, liver function tests, TSH, calcium, PTH, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, alkaline phosphatase and baseline calculated creatinine clearance. Participants with vitamin D levels \< 20 ng/ml will be treated with vitamin D 50,000 IU/wk for 8 weeks in addition to calcium. Vitamin D will be rechecked and the patient will be enrolled if the vitamin D level is \> 20 ng/ml. * Patients will be allowed to continue on certain medications known to affect bone and mineral metabolism (e.g. glucocorticoids, anticonvulsants) because their use is common in this population. (In our facilities, 2.9% of patients use glucocorticoids and 7.2% use anti-epileptic drugs.) In addition, women who have been treated in the past or present with osteoporosis agents, such as estrogen/progesterone, raloxifene, and calcitonin, will be allowed to participate and continue on these therapies if prescribed by their physician. However, if patients are currently on or have been on bisphosphonates for greater than 1 year in the previous 2 years prior to enrollment, they will be excluded as some bisphosphonates are long acting. * Patients will be allowed to wear hip pads if prescribed by their physician. If they are on parathyroid hormone, they may participate, but will be told that monotherapy with parathyroid hormone is more beneficial than combination therapy with parathyroid hormone and alendronate, as we have previously demonstrated.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Bone Mineral Density (BMD) of the Total Hip and SpineBaseline, 12 months, 24 monthBMD is the bone mineral density of the lumbar spine and total hip measured using dual-energy xray absorptiometry (DXA) scan

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Active Medication Group
One-time dose: Intravenous Zoledronic Acid 5.0 mg Intravenous zoledronic acid: Intravenous zoledronic acid 5.0 mg once
89
Placebo
Placebo Intravenous zoledronic acid: Intravenous zoledronic acid 5.0 mg once
92
Total181

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicActive Medication GroupPlaceboTotal
Age, Categorical
<=18 years
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Age, Categorical
>=65 years
89 Participants92 Participants181 Participants
Age, Categorical
Between 18 and 65 years
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
89 participants92 participants181 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
89 Participants92 Participants181 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
— / —— / —
other
Total, other adverse events
87 / 8988 / 92
serious
Total, serious adverse events
60 / 8955 / 92

Outcome results

Primary

Bone Mineral Density (BMD) of the Total Hip and Spine

BMD is the bone mineral density of the lumbar spine and total hip measured using dual-energy xray absorptiometry (DXA) scan

Time frame: Baseline, 12 months, 24 month

Population: Number of patients that completed a DXA at 12 months. At 24 months 60 in active treatment group and 72 in placebo group completed a DXA.

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active Medication GroupBone Mineral Density (BMD) of the Total Hip and SpineSpine BMD at 24 months4.5 Percent changeStandard Error 0.8
Active Medication GroupBone Mineral Density (BMD) of the Total Hip and SpineTotal Hip BMD at 24 months2.6 Percent changeStandard Error 0.6
Active Medication GroupBone Mineral Density (BMD) of the Total Hip and SpineTotal Hip BMD at 12 months2.8 Percent changeStandard Error 0.5
Active Medication GroupBone Mineral Density (BMD) of the Total Hip and SpineSpine BMD at 12 months3.0 Percent changeStandard Error 0.5
PlaceboBone Mineral Density (BMD) of the Total Hip and SpineTotal Hip BMD at 12 months-0.5 Percent changeStandard Error 0.4
PlaceboBone Mineral Density (BMD) of the Total Hip and SpineSpine BMD at 24 months0.7 Percent changeStandard Error 0.5
PlaceboBone Mineral Density (BMD) of the Total Hip and SpineSpine BMD at 12 months1.1 Percent changeStandard Error 0.5
PlaceboBone Mineral Density (BMD) of the Total Hip and SpineTotal Hip BMD at 24 months-1.5 Percent changeStandard Error 0.7

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 5, 2026