A Missed Opportunity to Prevent Subsequent Fractures Confirmed through Trends in the Treatment of Osteoporosis in Patients with Distal Radius and Hip Fractures
Abstract Background A history of osteoporotic fracture (OF) is strongly associated with subsequent OFs. It is important to treat osteoporosis following OFs to prevent subsequent fractures. A distal radius fracture (DRF) is the most common type of OF in people in their 50s and could be a hallmark of future OFs. We compared the rate of osteoporosis treatment within 6 months post-DRF with hip fracture (HF). Methods We used data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service nationwide claims database from 2010 to 2016. International Classification of Diseases 10th revision (ICD-10) codes and procedures codes were used to identify patients older than 50 years with newly diagnosed DRFs and HFs. Then the rate of prescription and kinds of osteoporosis medications in these patients were analysed. We also compared the trends in both groups using the Cochran–Armitage trend test. Results A database search identified 77,209 DRFs and 72,044 HFs in patient aged 50 years or older from 2011 to 2016. Insufficient DRF and HF patients had osteoporosis medications (17.2% and 34.5%) and the numbers of osteoporosis medication for both DRFs and HFs decreased significantly annually ( P <0.0001). Bisphosphonates were used most often, although the use of selective oestrogen receptor modifiers (SERMs) increased gradually in both groups.Conclusions Clinicians who treat OFs should treat osteoporosis to prevent subsequent fractures and pay more attention to DRF patients who fail to get proper osteoporosis treatment.