Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Apr;14(2):187-91.
doi: 10.7861/clinmedicine.14-2-187.

Osteoporosis and fracture risk in older people

Tara Coughlan  1 , Frances Dockery
Affiliations

Osteoporosis and fracture risk in older people

Tara Coughlan et al. Clin Med (Lond). 2014 Apr.
No abstract available

Keywords: Alendronate; bisphosphonates; bone mineral; calcium; density; falls; fractures; older people; osteoporosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Fracture risk vs fracture probability. BMI = body mass index; SD = standard deviation. Adapted with permission from Kanis et al (2012).
Fig 2.
Fig 2.
Assessing fracture risk in older people. *Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) may still be appropriate, especially for younger people and as a baseline before pharmacological treatment. †Option 1 may undertreat if the patient has osteopenia; option 2 may overtreat depending on the fixed threshold; and option 3 may undertreat older people. Clinical judgement should be used in deciding the best option for individual patients. The falls risk is not accounted for in the FRAX® tool, so this risk factor should be borne in mind when evaluating the benefits of treatment. BMD = bone mineral density; NICE = National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; NOGG = National Osteoporosis Guideline Group, TAG = technology appraisal guidance.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Albright F, Bloomberg E, Smith PH. Postmenopausal osteoporosis. Trans Assoc Am Physicians 1940;55:298–305.
    1. Fleisch H, Russel RG, Francis MD. Disphosphonates inhibit hydroxyapatite dissolution in vitro and bone resorption in tissue culture and in vivo. Science 1969;165:1262–4.10.1126/science.165.3899.1262 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kanis JA, McCloskey EV, Johansson H, et al. European guidance for the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Osteoporos Int 2013;24:23–57.10.1007/s00198-012-2074-y - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ensrud KE, Black DM, Palermo L, et al. Treatment with alendronate prevents fractures in women at highest risk: results from the fracture intervention trial. Arch Intern Med 1997:155:2617–24.10.1001/archinte.1997.00440430099012 - DOI - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization Study Group Assessment of fracture risk and its application to screening for postmenopausal osteoporosis. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser 1994;843:1–129. - PubMed

MeSH terms