Improving Osteoporosis Screening in Parkinson's Disease and Related Conditions-Think FRAGILE
Christopher Coppin1, Ayush Jha1,2, Simon J G Lewis1
1Parkinson's Disease Research Clinic, Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
Objectives:
Patients living with Parkinson's disease (PD) and related disorders are at increased risk of osteoporosis and fractures. However, bone health remains under-assessed in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the FRAGILE tool that we previously developed improved osteoporosis screening and referral practices in a PD and related diseases clinic.
Methods:
We performed an audit of 283 outpatient consultation letters evaluating the use of the FRAGILE tool for screening osteoporosis risk.
Results:
Following implementation of the FRAGILE tool our referral rate for osteoporosis screening improved from 23% to 48% of at-risk patients. Specifically, marked improvements were seen in referrals for patients with osteopenia, falls and fractures, but factors such as osteoporosis-associated medications and medical comorbidities were still often overlooked.
Conclusions:
Osteoporosis screening referrals improved after introduction of the FRAGILE tool in clinical practice. Further efforts are required to address less overt risk factors.
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