Management of osteoporosis in women with peripheral osteoporotic fractures after 50 years of age: a study of practices.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate practices regarding the management of osteoporosis revealed by low-impact peripheral fractures in women older than 50 years of age.


METHODS
Six orthopedic surgeons prospectively recruited patients presenting with their first low-impact peripheral fracture. Three months after the fracture, each patient's usual primary-care physician provided information on management.


RESULTS
The 132 patients (140 fractures) included in the study had a mean age of 73.8 years. Fracture sites in decreasing order of frequency were the wrist (29%), the hip (28%), the ankle (19%), the pelvis, the humerus, and the leg. Data on management by the primary-care physician were available for 106 patients. Fifty patients (50/106, 47%) were given a diagnosis of osteoporosis by their primary-care physician and 38 (38/106, 35%) received medications for osteoporosis.


CONCLUSIONS
In two-thirds of patients, a valuable opportunity for using the effective treatments available for osteoporosis was lost. Given the high risk of further fractures in this population, our finding is of great concern.
Briançon
Daniel
D
Rheumatology department, Hôpital Reine Hortense, Aix-Les-Bains, France. dbriancon@ch-aix-les-bains.rss.fr
de Gaudemar
Jean-Baptiste
JB
Forestier
Romain
R
D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology; D003720:Densitometry; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005194:Family Practice / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D017102:Fracture Healing / Q000502:physiology; D005598:Fractures, Spontaneous / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008875:Middle Aged; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017698:Postmenopause; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012494:Sampling Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric