title: Estimated prevalence of osteoporosis from a Nationwide Health Insurance database in Taiwan.
abstract: Approximately 9.24% of the Taiwanese population is aged 65 years or older. Among them, osteoporosis is a major problem, along with it associated age-related fractures. We investigated the prevalence of osteoporosis in 1996-2001 by sampling Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) database. Data from 102,763 men (51.27%) and 97,654 women (48.73%) were evaluated. In this cohort, osteoporosis was recorded in each yearly dataset if the codes 733.0 or 733.00-733.09 were found on a search of the administrative or outpatient sub-databanks. A stable estimated prevalence of osteoporosis was calculated according to Taiwan's NHI sampling data from 1999 to 2001. The results showed a trend toward increasing proportions of coded osteoporosis with age, more predominantly in the female population. The averaged prevalence of osteoporosis, between 1999 and 2001, in those aged > or = 50 years was 1.63% for men and 11.35% for women. These estimates were lower than those reported elsewhere for Taiwan and for Japan but more equal to that in the Mexican American sub-population of the United States. In conclusion, the prevalence of osteoporosis is underestimated in the NHI database. Policymakers should be aware of this finding and allocate resources accordingly.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, Community Medicine Research Center, Taipei, Taiwan 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Nan-Ping
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chung-Yeh
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Yiing-Jenq
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Po-Quang
authors.initials: PQ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ching-Heng
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Pesus
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Hong-Jen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology