Multifaceted interventions targeting high-risk patients and their primary care providers may improve the management of osteoporosis , but improvements are often clinical ly modest
This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of primary care interventions to improve the detection and treatment of osteoporosis .
Screening Elderly Women for Risk of Future Fractures—Participation Rates and Impact on Incidence of Falls and Fractures
We have assessed the acceptability of a method for screening for risk of future hip fracture in elderly women . After receipt of an initial response to a mailed risk-factor question naire sent out to 5,306 women , women were r and omly assigned to active or control groups . The active group was invited to participate in a screening visit that comprised a life-style question naire and a quantitative ultrasound heel scan . General practitioners ( GPs ) of women who were found to be in the lowest quartile of broadb and ultrasound attenuation and /or who had two or more risk factors for hip fracture were advised to prescribe a calcium and vitamin D supplement . A second mailed question naire was sent to both groups 1 to 3 years later . Compared with the control group , the active group had a 56 % lower risk of fracture ( odds ratio [ OR ] , 0.44 ; 95 % confidence interval [ CI ] , 0.24–0.81 adjusted age , weight , and treatment status ) . At follow-up , the proportion of fallers in the active group ( 25.3 % ) was lower than that in the control group ( 29.6 % ) ( P = 0.064 ) . The control group was found to have a higher rate of falls at follow-up than the active group ( 95 % CI , 0.02–0.22 ) ; no difference was found at baseline ( 95 % CI , −0.08 to + 0.14 ) . The screening method used was found to be acceptable to the majority of elderly women in this study . Screening the elderly in this way together with simple advice on treatment appears to reduce the age-associated increase in fall rates and the number of subsequent fractures . This form of screening may provide a cost-effective method to reduce falls and fractures in free-living elderly women . However , no such cost-effectiveness analysis has been performed to date
Multifaceted interventions targeting high-risk patients and their primary care providers may improve the management of osteoporosis , but improvements are often clinical ly modest
This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of primary care interventions to improve the detection and treatment of osteoporosis .