Factors related with osteoporosis treatment in postmenopausal women

Abstract

Although fractures had high mortality and morbidity, many studies proved that fracture risk might be decreased by pharmacological therapy, although a low treatment adherence rate is observed. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with osteoporosis treatment in postmenopausal women.A cross-sectional study was carried out from March to August 2013 at the primary care setting. Postmenopausal women were recruited. A standardized questionnaire was applied. Women who were using at least one of the following drugs at the moment of the survey were considered as current treatment: bisphosphonates, raloxifene, estrogen, calcitonin, teriparatide, or strontium ranelate. Women who had used any of the mentioned medications before the study were considered as past treatment.Of the 1025 women included in the study, 8% were on current treatment, 5.7% had past treatment, and 86.3% had not received treatment. Treated women (either current or past) had a higher rate of osteoarthritis, had more falls, had higher education level, presented a higher rate of private health insurance, and received more information about osteoporosis. They also had more dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans and were more frequently diagnosed with osteoporosis by these DXA scans. The factors independently associated with treatment in the regression analysis were the DXA scan itself, the diagnosis of osteoporosis by DXA, and information about osteoporosis.Current and past treatments of osteoporosis were associated with DXA and information. These results suggest that some measures to inform women about osteoporosis and or even the popularization of DXA scans could improve the treatment.

Bone Turnover Markers and Bone Mineral Density to Predict Osteoporotic Fractures in Older Women: A Retrospective Comparative Study

“…General information collected for all subjects included: (i) BMD of the lumbar spine and hip; (ii) BTM: PINP, β‐CTX, and N‐MID; (iii) bone metabolism‐related indicators, ALP, Ca, and P. BMD was were measured using DXA (enCORE, General Electric, version 15), instrument quality control was carried out before measurement, and those subjects with T < −2.5 SD were diagnosed as having osteoporosis according to diagnosis criteria. BMDL and BMDH represent BMD of the lumbar and the total hip, respectively.…”

“…Scholars have suggested that DXA should be used as a tool for the diagnosis of osteoporosis, and the threshold value for the diagnosis of osteoporosis is T value <−2.5 SD. Although race, region, fracture history, hormones, and other factors may affect the occurrence of OF, OF risk assessment based on BMD is also recommended.…”

“…O steoporosis is a bone disease characterized by decreasing bone mass, damage to the bone tissue microstructure, increasing bone brittleness, and an inclination towards fragility fractures. The disease poses a serious threat to older postmenopausal women 1 . Many elderly women are in a high metabolic state as a result of menopause and aging.…”

Disruption of bone densitometry practice in a Northern Italy Orthopedic Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…A relevant aspect to be considered is that of possible pharmacologic treatment interruptions due to unwanted discontinuation of BMD testing caused by COVID-19 lockdown, as DXA remains the most commonly used technique for BMD evaluation [16]. It has been reported that BMD testing is associated to increased adherence to osteoporosis pharmacologic treatment, since its execution probably increase patients' awareness of osteoporosis risk, when the disease is diagnosed [17,18]. Future studies will certainly focus on this important topic when densitometric activity will return to pre-pandemic standards.…”

Clinical Characteristics of Primary and Secondary Osteoporotic Fractures: Data from Single Referral Center Emergency Department

“…[56] The social burden of fractures will increase throughout the world as the population ages, so the prevention of primary and secondary OFs is essential. [789] Fortunately, OFs are preventable and their understanding of the epidemiology could help us focus efforts on the patients at greatest risk. In addition, it is very important to recognize the risk of secondary fractures that may occur after initial OFs.…”