Cherian Kripa Elizabeth, Kapoor Nitin, Paul Thomas Vizhalil
Department of Endocrinology, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
J Family Med Prim Care. 2019 Jun;8(6):1824-1827. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_385_19.
The prevalence of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women is about 35 to 50% and the mortality associated with hip fractures is about 20%. Despite these figures, osteoporosis continues to be under diagnosed in the primary care setting. One of the reasons for this is attributed to the poor availability of DXA (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) scanners in rural areas. The fracture risk assessment tool (FRAX) is an online web-based tool that takes into account multiple factors that help in predicting the 10-year risk of developing hip or major osteoporotic fractures. The tool was developed and validated in independent cohorts. The advantages of using the FRAX tool are that, it is inexpensive, easily available, and does not need the technical expertise that is required in the use of a DXA scanner. Besides these merits, it is a tool that is easy to use for the rural health care worker as well as the family physician in identifying those subjects at risk for developing osteoporotic fractures. These benefits make it a suitable fracture prediction tool in the primary care setting in India.
绝经后女性骨质疏松症的患病率约为35%至50%，与髋部骨折相关的死亡率约为20%。尽管有这些数据，但在基层医疗环境中，骨质疏松症仍未得到充分诊断。其中一个原因是农村地区双能X线吸收法（DXA）扫描仪的可及性较差。骨折风险评估工具（FRAX）是一种基于网络的在线工具，它考虑了多种有助于预测未来10年发生髋部或主要骨质疏松性骨折风险的因素。该工具是在独立队列中开发并验证的。使用FRAX工具的优点是，它价格低廉、易于获取，并且不需要使用DXA扫描仪所需的专业技术知识。除了这些优点外，它还是一种便于农村医护人员以及家庭医生使用的工具，可用于识别有发生骨质疏松性骨折风险的人群。这些优势使其成为印度基层医疗环境中合适的骨折预测工具。
