Anamnestic risk factor questionnaire as reliable diagnostic instrument for osteoporosis (reduced bone morphogenic density)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Osteoporosis is a major health problem worldwide, and is included in the WHO list of the top 10 major diseases. However, it is often undiagnosed until the first fracture occurs, due to inadequate patient education and lack of insurance coverage for screening tests. Anamnestic risk factors like positive family anamnesis or early menopause are assumed to correlate with reduced BMD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In our study of 78 patients with metaphyseal long bone fractures, we searched for a correlation between anamnestic risk factors, bone specific laboratory values, and the bone morphogenic density (BMD). Each indicator was examined as a possible diagnostic instrument for osteoporosis. The secondary aim of this study was to demonstrate the high prevalence of osteoporosis in patients with metaphyseal fractures.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>76.9% of our fracture patients had decreased bone density and 43.6% showed manifest osteoporosis in DXA (densitometry) measurements. Our questionnaire, identifying anamnestic risk factors, correlated highly significantly (p = 0.01) with reduced BMD, whereas seven bone-specific laboratory values (p = 0.046) correlated significantly.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Anamnestic risk factors correlate with pathological BMD. The medical questionnaire used in this study would therefore function as a cost-effective primary diagnostic instrument for identification of osteoporosis patients.</p

Time trends for alendronate prescription practices in women with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and women exposed to systemic glucocorticoids

UNLABELLED: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and systemic glucocorticoid exposure are well-known risk factors of osteoporosis. We evaluated alendronate prescription practices related to COPD and exposure to systemic corticosteroids from 1996 to 2008 and showed an increasing targeting of alendronate treatment in patients with COPD and patients with systemic corticosteroid exposure.INTRODUCTION: COPD and systemic glucocorticoid exposure are well-known risk factors of osteoporosis and fragility fracture, but osteoporosis is often underdiagnosed and undertreated in these patients. This study aims to evaluate alendronate prescription practices related to COPD and/or to exposure to systemic glucocorticoids among Danish women.METHODS: A total of 388,314 female subjects &gt;50 years old, 64,719 of whom initiated treatment with alendronate, and 323,595 age- and gender-matched controls were retrospectively identified between 1996 and 2008 from national health registers. Multivariate logistic regression was used for examining prescription practices, specifically if these risk factors (COPD or glucocorticoid exposure) increased or decreased the likelihood of beginning alendronate therapy.RESULTS: A diagnosis of COPD was associated with an increased likelihood of using alendronate (odds ratio (OR) 1.4, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.4-1.5, p &lt; 0.001). Further, a diagnosis of COPD was associated with an increasing tendency of initiating alendronate treatment in the study period (OR 1.3 (95 % CI 1.1-1.5, years 1996-1999) to 1.5 (95 % CI 1.4-1.6, years 2006-2008), p &lt; 0.01). Exposure to systemic glucocorticoids was associated with a significantly increasing (OR 3.6, 95 % CI 3.3-3.9 to OR 5.5, 95 % CI 5.3-5.8) probability of receiving alendronate treatment in the same observation period.CONCLUSION: This nationwide register-based study on alendronate prescription practices in Denmark shows an increasing targeting of alendronate treatment in patients with COPD and an even stronger trend for patients with systemic glucocorticoid exposure, perhaps indicating increased awareness of well-known and associated conditions.</p

Understanding patients' adherence-related beliefs about medicines prescribed for long-term conditions: A meta-analytic review of the Necessity-Concerns Framework

Patients' beliefs about treatment influence treatment engagement and adherence. The Necessity-Concerns Framework postulates that adherence is influenced by implicit judgements of personal need for the treatment (necessity beliefs) and concerns about the potential adverse consequences of taking it