Bone Density Screening Rates Among Medicare Beneficiaries: An Analysis with a focus on Asian Americans

To report osteoporosis screening utilization rates among Asian American (AsA) populations in the USA.

We retrospectively assessed the use of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) screening using the Medicare 5% Research Identifiable Files. Using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes indicative of a DXA scan, we identified patients recommended for DXA screening according to the ACR-SPR-SSR Practice Parameters (females ≥ 65 years, males ≥ 70 years). Sociodemographic factors and their association with screening were evaluated using chi-square tests.

There were 80,439 eligible AsA beneficiaries, and 12,102 (15.1%) received osteoporosis screening. DXA rate for women was approximately four times greater than the rate for men (19.8% vs. 5.0%; p < 0.001). AsA beneficiaries in zip codes with higher mean household income (MHI) were more likely to have DXA than those in lower MHI areas (17.6% vs. 14.3%, p < 0.001). AsA beneficiaries aged < 80 were more likely to receive DXA (15.5%) than those aged ≥ 80 (14.1%, p < 0.001). There were 2,979,801 eligible non-AsA beneficiaries, and 496,957 (16.7%) received osteoporosis screening during the study period. Non-Hispanic white beneficiaries had the highest overall screening rate (17.5%), followed by North American Native (13.0%), Black (11.8%), and Hispanic (11.1%) beneficiaries. Comparing AsA to non-AsA populations, there were significantly lower DXA rates among AsA beneficiaries when controlling for years of Medicare eligibility, patient age, sex, location, and mean income (p < 0.001).

We found lower than expected DXA screening rates for AsA patients. A better understanding of the barriers and facilitators to AsA osteoporosis screening is needed to improve patient care.