Validation of the Male Osteoporosis Risk Estimation Score (MORES) in a primary care setting

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Orthopedics
• Preventive Medicine

Background:

• Osteoporosis poses a significant fracture risk in aging men.
• Efficient screening tools are needed for primary care physicians to identify at-risk individuals.
• The Male Osteoporosis Risk Estimation Score (MORES) was developed for osteoporosis risk assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the MORES for identifying men aged 60 and older at increased risk of osteoporosis.
• To assess the diagnostic accuracy and efficiency of the MORES compared to universal screening.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, cross-sectional study involving 346 men aged 60+.
• Participants completed the MORES questionnaire and underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for bone density assessment.
• Sensitivity, specificity, area under the curve (AUC), and number needed-to-screen (NNS) were calculated.

Main Results:

• The MORES demonstrated good diagnostic performance with an AUC of 0.82.
• Sensitivity was 0.80 and specificity was 0.70.
• Using MORES required screening 259 men to prevent one major osteoporotic fracture over 10 years, compared to 636 for universal DXA screening.

Conclusions:

• The MORES is a validated, effective, and efficient tool for identifying men at higher risk of osteoporosis.
• It can help target diagnostic DXA scans to those most likely to benefit.
• This supports its use in primary care settings for early osteoporosis detection.