Improving Rural Bone Health and Minimizing Fracture Risk in West Virginia: Validation of the World Health...

West Virginia ranks second nationally in population ≥ 65 years old placing our state at greater risk for osteoporosis and fracture. The gold standard for detecting osteoporosis is dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), yet over half of West Virginia's counties do not have this machine. Due to access barriers, a validated phone-administered fracture prediction tool would be beneficial for osteoporosis screening. The World Health Organization's FRAX fracture prediction tool was administered as a phone survey to 45 patients; these results were compared to DXA bone mineral density determination. Results confirmed that the FRAX phone survey is as reliable as DXA in detecting osteoporosis or clinically significant osteopenia: 92% positive predictive value, 100% negative predictive value, 100% sensitivity and 91% specificity when compared to the gold standard. These promising results allow for the development of telephone-based protocols to improve osteoporosis detection, referral and treatment especially in areas with health care access barriers.