title: Assessment of fracture risk.
abstract: Fractures are a common complication of osteoporosis. Although osteoporosis is defined by bone mineral density at the femoral neck, other sites and validated techniques can be used for fracture prediction. Several clinical risk factors contribute to fracture risk independently of BMD. These include age, prior fragility fracture, smoking, excess alcohol, family history of hip fracture, rheumatoid arthritis and the use of oral glucocorticoids. These risk factors in conjunction with BMD can be integrated to provide estimates of fracture probability using the FRAX tool. Fracture probability rather than BMD alone can be used to fashion strategies for the assessment and treatment of osteoporosis.
authors.affiliation: WHO Collaborating Centre for Metabolic Bone Diseases, University of Sheffield Medical School, Beech Hill Road, Sheffield S10 2RX, UK. w.j.pontefract@sheffield.ac.uk
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kanis
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oden
authors.forename: Eugene V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: McCloskey
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D015519:Bone Density; D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors