[Absolute risk for fracture and WHO guideline. WHO model for assessing absolute risk of fracture]

Abstract

Goal for management of osteoporosis is prevention of fractures, although the diagnosis of osteoporosis is made according to bone mineral density (BMD) which plays a great role in monitoring the effectiveness of treatment. However, there are many countries and regions where BMD measurement is not available in primary health care. Even if it is available, BMD shows limited validity in predicting fracture risk. A research group of the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed absolute risk assessment models for fracture incorporating several clinical risk factors with and without BMD. The present paper described the outline of these models and addressed several issues when applying these models to the primary medical care and preventive practice in Japan.