Geriatric Health Exam Osteoporosis Screening

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (WHO FRAX®) Taiwanese calculator is freely available on line to help osteoporosis management. However, its clinical utility for improving osteoporosis awareness and patient acceptance has not been validated in Taiwanese population.

OBJECTIVES: This 11-month FRAX® based screening and referral program enrolling older adults participating in the geriatric health examinations (GHEs) at the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) aiming at determine the patient acceptance of the tool and the program and to improve patient awareness in osteoporosis. The second aim is to look for the recommendations from the participating physicians to improve the FRAX® -based osteoporosis management model.

METHODS: The NTUH GHE program is a two stage process to serve 3,000 older adults collecting annually from Mar. to Dec. Subjects will be enrolled to the current study at the stage 1 GHE visits after informed consent. Baseline questionnaires including the FRAX® tools will be distributed and expected to be returned at the stage 2 visits. Research assistants will calculate the 10-year predicted fracture risks for the participants during the waiting periods and present the numbers to the GHE physicians. High risks individuals will be referred to general geriatric clinic for further managements. All participants will be provided with osteoporosis and fracture educational material. Patient acceptance and awareness will be assessed. The study is to be started from Feb., to Oct., 2013 to enroll roughly 1,800 older adults assuming refusal rate about 40%.

Qualitative interviews will be used to obtain recommendations from study geriatricians in Jul., 2013 to optimize the FRAX® based screening and management model.