Abdulmohsen Alkathiri Moath, Abdullah Alammari Duaa
From the Department of Family Medicine (Alkathiri), Ministry of the National Guard Health - Affairs; from the College of Public Health (Alkathiri, Alammari), King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences; and from the King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (Alkathiri, Alammari), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Med J. 2025 Jun;46(6):649-658. doi: 10.15537/smj.2025.46.6.20240944.
To assess the use of osteoporosis screening tests in average-risk individuals at primary healthcare centers affiliated with the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between 2016 and 2023.
Data were presented using frequencies n (%), mean, and standard deviation. Chi-square, t-test, and ANOVA tests were used for bivariate comparisons to evaluate test completion and prevalence estimates of osteopenia and osteoporosis. Binary logistic regression models were used to identify the factors associated with high odds of bone mineral density (BMD) test ordering and completion. For all analyses, a ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.
We retrieved and analyzed data from 5,965 unique women. Analysis showed 4,075 BMD order requests; only 1,017 (25%) orders were completed by 894 women, representing only 15% of all women included in this study. Osteoporosis was found in 274 (26.9%) tests and osteopenia in 540 tests (53.1%). Factors like patient's age, facility, number of outpatient visits, ordering staff title, and year of order were assessed to predict high utilization and completion of BMD test.
This research showed that although osteoporosis is a serious public health concern causing significant morbidity and mortality, there is still a gap in osteoporosis screening practices within primary care settings. Also, it sheds light on some factors that may predict physicians' high utilization of BMD tests and patients' completion rates.
评估2016年至2023年期间，沙特阿拉伯利雅得国民卫队卫生事务部下属初级医疗保健中心对平均风险个体进行骨质疏松症筛查测试的情况。
数据以频数n（%）、均值和标准差呈现。采用卡方检验、t检验和方差分析进行双变量比较，以评估测试完成情况以及骨质减少和骨质疏松的患病率估计值。使用二元逻辑回归模型来确定与骨密度（BMD）测试开单和完成的高概率相关的因素。对于所有分析，P≤0.05被认为具有统计学意义。
我们检索并分析了5965名女性的独特数据。分析显示有4075份BMD测试开单请求；只有1017份（25%）开单由894名女性完成，仅占本研究纳入的所有女性的15%。在274次（26.9%）测试中发现骨质疏松，在540次测试（53.1%）中发现骨质减少。对患者年龄、医疗机构、门诊就诊次数、开单工作人员职称和开单年份等因素进行评估，以预测BMD测试的高利用率和完成情况。
本研究表明，尽管骨质疏松症是一个严重的公共卫生问题，会导致显著的发病率和死亡率，但初级保健机构在骨质疏松症筛查实践方面仍存在差距。此外，该研究还揭示了一些可能预测医生对BMD测试高利用率和患者完成率的因素。
