Bone health assessment in adults with fragility fracture risk factors between 2002-2014: a retrospective cohort study

Lifetime risk of fragility fractures is 50% in post-menopausal women and 20% in men aged >50 years. Identifying people at high risk facilitates early intervention and reduction of biopsychosocial morbidity associated with these fractures.

To explore if bone health assessment (BHA) rates differ between women and men aged ≥50 years with fragility fracture risk factors.

A primary care-based cohort study in North Staffordshire, UK.

Patients were identified from the Consultations in Primary Care Archive (CiPCA) database between 2002 and 2014 with one or more fragility fracture risk factors (previous fractures, falls, and prolonged steroid use). Evaluation of BHA within 12 months of presentation of the first risk factor was carried out by searching for codes for fracture risk assessment tools (FRAX and QFracture), bone density measurement, specialist service referral, or if bone-protection medication was started.

A total of 15 581 patients with risk factors were identified; men represented 40.4% of the cohort. The study found 1172 (7.5%) had BHA performed within 1 year of presentation, and 8.9% of women and 5.5% of men had BHAs, which was found with strong statistical evidence (χ² = 59.88, P = 1 × 10^-14). This relationship prevailed after adjusting for other covariates, such as comorbidity and number of consultations, with an odds ratio of 1.25 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.08 to 1.43).

This study has shown that rates of BHA were generally low and even lower in men compared with women. Primary care clinicians should be alert to fragility fracture risk factors in both men and women to enable early assessment and intervention.