Global Coalition Of Top Bone Health Researchers, Physicians, And Patient Advocacy Organizations Publish Clinical Recommendations Calling For Fracture Patients 65 Years Of Age Or Older Who Experience A Hip Or Spine Fracture To Be Treated For Osteoporosis
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A coalition of the world's top bone health experts, physicians, specialists, and patient advocacy groups today published their clinical care recommendations to tackle the public health crisis in the treatment of osteoporosis and the debilitating and often deadly hip and spine fractures caused by the disease. The Secondary Fracture Prevention: Consensus Recommendations from a Multistakeholder Coalition was published online in the peer-reviewed Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
The comprehensive recommendations are the first to outline the best course of clinical care for women and men, age 65 years or older, with a hip or vertebral (spine) fracture. Their publication in a peer-reviewed journal comes within days of a new report from the National Osteoporosis Foundation that found that older Americans covered by Medicare suffered one or more additional bone fractures--2.3 million total fractures--due to osteoporosis at a cost to Medicare of over $6.3 billion in 2015.
"Our message is even more urgent. The emotional and financial cost of osteoporotic fractures is unacceptable, as is the fact that most of these fractures go untreated when we have the means to improve lives," said Bart Clarke, M.D., ASBMR President and a clinician and researcher with the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, Diabetes, and Nutrition at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. "These recommendations provide a guide for everyone involved with the care of a patient with a hip or vertebral fracture, from orthopedists to primary care doctors to caregivers."
Comprised of more than 40 top U.S. and international bone health experts, health care professional organizations and patient advocacy organizations (see full list below), the Coalition developed their recommendations in response to growing evidence of an alarming trend of increased hip fractures and high-risk osteoporosis patients who need treatment but are going untreated. Only 23 percent of elderly patients who suffer a hip fracture receive treatment to reduce future fracture risk compared to 96 percent of heart attack patients who receive beta blockers to prevent a future heart attack.
"We have the tools to both improve the treatment of osteoporosis and to prevent secondary fractures, including a national post-fracture registry in partnership with the AOA's Own the Bone program," said W. Timothy Brox, MD, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons member and coauthor of the recommendations published in JBMR. "Now we can use these resources to partner with patients, their caregivers and other health care professionals to make informed choices about the best treatment options and to provide greater standardization across the care continuum."
An overarching principle for the Coalition's recommendations is that fracture patients optimally should be managed in the context of a multi-disciplinary clinical system that includes case management, such as a fracture liaison service, to assure that they are appropriately evaluated and treated for osteoporosis and risk of future fractures.
"Orthopedists are on the frontlines of fracture care," said Paul A. Anderson, M.D., FAOA, Chair of the American Orthopaedic Association's Own the Bone Steering Committee and member of the AOA Executive Committee. These recommendations can help us all set the stage for better outcomes for patients, calling for hospitals, practices and other health care professionals to work together to help evaluate and treat these patients through care management and coordination, as with a fracture liaison service."
Additionally, the Coalition outlined what hip and vertebral fracture patients and their families/caregivers need to know:
-- Your broken bone likely means you have osteoporosis and are at high risk
for breaking more bones, especially over the next 1-2 years;
-- You may lose your independence, become walker-dependent/wheel
chair-bound, have to move from your home to a residential facility, and
will be at higher risk for dying prematurely; and,
-- There are actions you can take to reduce your risk, including
medication, exercise, nutrition, and reducing your risk of falling.
The complete Secondary Fracture Prevention Initiative: Consensus Clinical Recommendations and Rationales from a Multistakeholder Coalition are available at www.secondaryfractures.org.
COALITION ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERS
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American American Academy of Physical Medicine and
Society of Rehabilitation
Bone and
Mineral
Research
Academy of
Nutrition and
Dietetics American Academy of Physician Assistants
*Agency for American Association of Clinical
Healthcare Endocrinologists /American College of
Research and Endocrinology
Quality
American American Association of Nurse
Academy of Practitioners
Orthopaedic
Surgeons
American Bone
Health
American Orthopaedic Association
American
College of
Physicians American Physical Therapy Association
American American Society of Health-System
College of Pharmacists
Rheumatology
American Dutch Society of Calcium and Bone
Geriatrics Metabolism
Society
American
Medical
Society for
Sports
Medicine
Endocrine Society
American
Occupational
Therapy
Association
Fragility Fracture Network
Geisinger
Health System
Orthopaedic Trauma Association
Hellenic
Osteoporosis
Foundation
Osteoporosis Australia
International
Osteoporosis
Foundation
Osteoporosis Canada
International Slovak Society for Osteoporosis and
Society for Metabolic Bone Diseases
Clinical
Densitometry
National Bone
Health
Alliance
Swedish Osteoporosis Society
National
Council on
Aging Syrian National Osteoporosis Society
*National University of Rochester Department of
Institute of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation
Arthritis and
Musculoskeletal
and Skin
Diseases
*National
Institute on
Aging
US Bone and Joint Initiative
National
Osteoporosis
Foundation
National
Osteoporosis
Society (UK)
*Federal Liaison
National
Quality Forum
The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) is the leading professional, scientific and medical society established to bring together clinical and experimental scientists involved in the study of bone, mineral and musculoskeletal research. ASBMR encourages and promotes the study of this expanding field through annual scientific meetings, an official journal (Journal of Bone and Mineral Research®), the Primer on Metabolic Bone Diseases and Disorders of Mineral Metabolism, advocacy and interaction with government agencies and related societies. To learn more about upcoming meetings and publications, please visit www.asbmr.org.
SOURCE The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR)
