To the Editor: The Australian Fracture Prevention Summit held in 2002 recognised osteoporosis as a major public health issue. Despite this, several Australian studies have found that a majority of patients with osteoporosis-related fractures do not receive appropriate evaluation and treatment as recommended by the clinical guidelines.1-4
The full article is accessible to AMA members and paid subscribers. Login to read more or purchase a subscription now.
Please note: institutional and Research4Life access to the MJA is now provided through Wiley Online Library.
- 1. Feldstein AC, Nichols GA, Elmer PJ, et al. Older women with fractures: patients falling through the cracks of guideline-recommended osteoporosis screening and treatment. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2003; 85-A: 2294-2302.
- 2. Freedman KB, Kaplan FS, Bilker WB, et al. Treatment of osteoporosis: are physicians missing an opportunity? J Bone Joint Surg Am 2000; 82-A: 1063-1070.
- 3. Harrington JT, Broy SB, Derosa AM, et al. Hip fracture patients are not treated for osteoporosis: a call to action. Arthritis Rheum 2002; 47: 651-654.
- 4. Kamel HK, Hussain MS, Tariq A, et al. Failure to diagnose and treat osteoporosis in elderly patients hospitalized with hip fracture. Am J Med 2000; 109: 326-328.
- 5. Davidoff F, Batalden P. Toward stronger evidence on quality improvement. Draft publication guidelines: the beginning of a consensus project. Qual Saf Health Care 2005; 14: 319-325.
Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.
We would like to thank Mr C Butcher, Head of the Orthopaedic Unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, for his ongoing support of this program. We are grateful for the medication provided by Aventis Pharma.
Aventis Pharma provided risedronate for the research.