Older men who experience a fracture are not routinely screened for osteoporosis, leading to undertreatment, a new study finds.
Although many comorbidities, such as cardiovascular disease, commonly are recognized and treated in men — sometimes more than in women — osteoporosis is not one of them, investigators said.
“Even post-fracture for major fractures like a hip, rates of treatment are disappointingly low,” said co-author Jeffrey Curtis, M.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The new study examined health records from almost 9,900 older male Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with an osteoporosis-related fracture. In the two years before their fracture, fewer than 6% had been given a bone mineral density test with DXA, the standard test. Yet two-thirds of these men had a history of musculoskeletal pain, with almost half using opioids one year prior to their fracture.
At baseline, 2.8% of study participants had been tested but not treated, and 2.3% were treated but not tested. Only 2.1% were both tested and treated, the authors reported.
In addition, a decline observed in DXA scans between 2012 and 2014 was particularly high among men aged 75 and older — who are more likely to be at risk of fracture.
“There is a need for consistent osteoporosis screening recommendation in men,” Curtis said. “Incorporation of these recommendations in quality-of-care measures for osteoporosis management and post-fracture care are warranted to improve health outcomes in this population,” he concluded.
The study was presented Saturday at ACR Convergence, the American College Rheumatology’s annual meeting.
