Documentation of preventive education and screening for osteoporosis

The purpose of this study was to identify provider documentation practices related to osteoporosis prevention and screening for women aged 40 to 65 years and to determine whether documentation practices differ by type of provider. The setting was an obstetric/gynecologic clinic of a large metropolitan health maintenance organization in Minnesota. One hundred fifty medical records were reviewed for documentation addressing calcium intake, vitamin D intake, exercise, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and bone mineral densitometry. A statistically significant difference was found between physicians and advanced practice nurses in the documentation of vitamin D and HRT as osteoporosis prevention strategies. The results of this study suggest a need for increased awareness on the part of providers about the importance of their comprehensive documentation of counseling and education interventions as one strategy to promote positive outcomes such as osteoporosis prevention.