Improving Quality of Osteoporosis Care Through Patient Storytelling

While the occurrence of a fragility fracture (e.g. hip fracture) is indicative of low BMD and a clinical diagnosis of osteoporosis made, osteoporosis can be identified in asymptomatic patients using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). United States (U.S.) guidelines recommend screening bone density tests using central DXA in all women 65 years or older. However, fewer than one-third of eligible U.S. women age 65 and older undergo DXA testing. The main barrier to achieving greater rates of osteoporosis screening is identifying a systematic, effective, and generalizable way for healthcare providers and patients to schedule DXA results.

Given that national guidelines recommend DXA screening for all older women, the reasons a majority of women do not receive DXA testing are likely multifactorial. Patients and their health care providers may be unaware of preventative screening recommendations and the reasons for these recommendations. Screening tests that are required relatively infrequently (i.e. less than once a year) may be difficult for patients and physicians to remember if there are few triggers (e.g. seasonality as a trigger to motivate influenza vaccination). Additionally, primary care providers (PCPs) are responsible for managing a large number of comorbidities and acute care needs and may be unable to stay current with all preventative care needs during increasingly short clinic visits.