Only 2.1 percent of those with qualifying fractures were diagnosed and treated<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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TUESDAY, Nov. 17, 2020 (HealthDay News) — In the older male population, there is a high level of underdiagnosis and undertreatment of osteoporosis, according to a study presented at ACR Convergence, the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, held virtually from Nov. 5 to 9.<\/p>\n
Setareh A. Williams, Ph.D., from Radius Health Inc. in Waltham, Massachusetts, and colleagues examined the characteristics of 9,876 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with a closed fragility or osteoporosis-related fracture between Jan. 1, 2010, and Sept. 30, 2014. <\/p>\n
The researchers found that 61 percent of the patients were aged 75 years or older. In the two years prior to their fracture, fewer than 6 percent had undergone bone mineral density testing with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). One year prior to index fracture, 62.8 percent had a history of musculoskeletal pain and 48.5 percent had a history of opioid use. The spine, hip, and ankle were the most commonly observed fracture sites (31.0, 27.9, and 9.8 percent, respectively). About 92.8 percent of patients with a qualifying fracture did not have a claim for diagnosis or treatment of osteoporosis at baseline; 2.8, 2.3, and 2.1 percent were diagnosed but not treated, treated but not diagnosed, and diagnosed and treated, respectively. From 2012 to 2014, there was a trend seen for declining DXA scans (65 to 69 years, 6.3 to 5.5 percent; 70 to 74 years, 4.7 to 4.0 percent; 75 years and older, 6.0 to 4.3 percent). <\/p>\n
“Men are typically not part of routinely recommended screening with DXA and so they are both underdiagnosed and undertreated,” a coauthor said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Several authors disclosed financial ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n
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