rome and Osteoporosis

We explored how the severity of radiological osteoporotic vertebral fracture (OVF) can be converted to the equivalent T-score values.. To perform a study to define what portion of older community women with what severity of radiographic OVF correspond to what low T-score status.. There were age-matched 301 Italian community women and 301 Chinese community women (sub-group A, age, 73.6 ± 6.1 years). In addition, Chinese sub-groups B and C included 110 community women (age, 68.9 ± 5.5 years) and 101 community women (age: 82.2 ± 4.3 years), respectively. For each vertebra in women, a score of 0, - 0.5, - 1, - 1.5, - 2, - 2.5, and - 3 was assigned for no OVF or OVF of < 20%, ≥ 20 ~ 25%, ≥ 25% ~ 1/3, ≥ 1/3 ~ 40%, ≥ 40%-2/3, and ≥ 2/3 vertebral height loss, respectively, OVFss was defined as the summed score of vertebrae T4 to L5. OVFss and T-scores were ranked from the smallest to the largest values.. For the Chinese total group (sub-groups A, B, and C together), OVFss = - 1 corresponded to lowest T-score (lowest T-score of lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip) of - 3.4 ~ - 3.2. OVFss ≤ - 1.5 corresponded to femoral neck T-score ≤ - 2.5. OVFss = -1.5 corresponded to a mean femoral neck T-score of - 3.0, - 2.6, and - 2.4, among Chinese sub-groups B, A, and C subjects, respectively. For Italians, all cases with OVFss ≤ - 1 had lowest T-score ≤ - 2.5. For cases with femoral neck T-score = - 2.5, 41.7% had OVFss = - 1.5, and 58.3% had OVFss = - 1.. For older women, statistically OVFss ≤ - 1 suggests this subject is osteoporotic according to lowest T-score. If using femoral neck T-score, OVFss ≤ - 1.5 qualifies osteoporosis diagnosis.

Topics: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Female; Hong Kong; Humans; Lumbar Vertebrae; Middle Aged; Osteoporosis; Osteoporotic Fractures; Rome; Spinal Fractures

Attitudes of primary care physicians towards prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis have important implications in clinical practice; however, in Italy, this issue has been poorly investigated. This study aimed to determine whether the awareness and opinions of family physicians regarding the management of osteoporosis are in line with the suggestions of experts in the field. One hundred of 115 randomly selected family physicians from the area of Rome were asked to participate, and completed a survey on osteoporosis including ten close-ended questions. Response rates documented the degree of awareness about osteoporosis. Thirty-six percent of physicians make the diagnosis of osteoporosis based exclusively on bone densitometry (BD), while 17% never utilize BD. Fifty-three percent of doctors assess biochemical markers of bone turnover, but half of them are unaware of the existence of more sensitive and specific markers. Forty-four percent of physicians autonomously start therapy according to the suggestions of journal reports (38%), and/or pharmaceutical advertisements (18%). Regarding treatment follow-up, 60% of doctors gave inadequate answers, as 25% and 35% of them check bone markers after six months of therapy, and BD within one year of therapy initiation, respectively. In conclusion, experts on osteoporosis should give more attention to the education of primary care physicians regarding the management of the disease.

Topics: Attitude; Awareness; Female; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Male; Middle Aged; Osteoporosis; Physician's Role; Physicians, Family; Rome