When Should Men Start Receiving Osteoporosis Screening?
Osteoporosis screening should be performed in men aged 85 years and older, as well as men aged 65 years and older with risk factors for fractures, according to new research.
These findings emerged from a study of 2,539,812 men aged 65 to 99 years without prior fracture. Data were obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Cases and controls were propensity score-matched.
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Propensity scores for the likelihood of screening within the next year were calculated annually, and time to fracture between cases and controls who survived at least 12 months were compared via landmark analysis.
A total of 183,943 men were screened, of whom 33,224 were older than age 80 years. Ultimately, results demonstrated that screening became more effective vs not screening at age 85 years.
Screening yielded a 15% lower risk of fracture in men older than age 80 years relative to screening in the overall population (hazard ratio 0.85).
The researchers found that the proportion of men who met treatment thresholds and received at least 1 prescription for an osteoporosis medication was low overall. However, this proportion was slightly higher in men older than 80 years.
“Our results support screening men over age 85 years for osteoporosis regardless of risk factors, and men over 65 with fracture risk factors,” the researchers concluded.
These findings were presented at the American Geriatrics Society 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting, which is taking place from May 3 to 5 in Orlando, Florida.
—Christina Vogt
Reference:
Colon-Emeric CS, Pieper C, Sloane R, Lee R, Lyles K, Adler R. Age threshold for primary osteoporosis screening in men. Paper presented at: American Geriatrics Society Annual Scientific Meeting; May 3-5, 2018; Orlando, FL. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jgs.15376