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Black women screened, treated less for osteoporosis vs. white women
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Not enough eligible women are being screened and treated for osteoporosis in the primary care setting, a recent study suggests. Additionally, black women were less likely to be screened compared with white women.
“Our study showed that about one-third of the eligible women in a primary care setting are being referred for osteoporosis screening or completed a DXA scan. Although this proportion is better than that described in the Surgeon general’s report, it is clear that new strategies are needed to further improve the screening rate,” the researchers wrote.
Irene Hamrick, MD, from the department of family medicine at the University of Wisconsin, and colleagues selected 500 black women and 500 white women randomly from a pool of 4,748 patients aged ≥60 years in 213 primary care practices.
The researchers compared dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) screening referral rates and results, follow-up rates and medication prescribed for low BMD between black and white women.
Of the 1,000 women included in the study, 29.8% of black women were referred for DXA compared with 38.4% of white women (P<.05), according to data. Regarding women with a diagnosis of osteoporosis, black women were less likely to receive medication for low BMD (79.6% vs. 29.2%; P<.05), they added. Moreover, the researchers reported that women providers were 27.7% more likely to refer women for DXA than male providers (21.7%; P=.035).
Hamrick and colleagues wrote that further research is needed to examine ways to increase screenings for patients with low BMD, and treatment patterns in black women.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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