We found that incident OAF costs will sharply increase until the year 2050. As a consequence, a growing demand for long-term care as well as hospital care can be expected and should be considered in future healthcare planning. To support decision makers in managing the future burden of OAF, our model allows to economically evaluate population- and risk group-based interventions for fracture prevention in Germany.

Vitamin D and Ca food fortification is an economically beneficial preventive health strategy that has the potential to reduce the future health burden of osteoporotic fractures in Germany. The implementation of a vitamin D and Ca food-fortification programme should be a high priority for German health policy makers because it offers substantial cost-saving potential for the German health and social care systems.

No abstract