Anti-osteoporotic care of distal radius fractures declined as DEXA screening increased
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Results presented at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting showed a decrease in the number of patients with sentinel distal radius fractures who received anti-osteoporotic care despite an increase in DEXA screening.
Azeem Tariq Malik, MD, a research fellow at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and colleagues identified more than 14,000 isolated, closed, distal radius fractures among patients aged 50 years or older. Researchers assessed the prescription of anti-osteoporotic medications within the year after fracture and the proportion of patients who received a DEXA scan.
In his presentation, Malik noted a statistically significant declining trend in anti-osteoporotic medication within 1 year following distal radius fracture. However, results showed an increase in the rate of DEXA screening from 14.8% in 2008 to 23.6% in 2015.
“Interestingly, the average cost of the entire treatment for one patient for osteoporosis alone is only $200 and the most commonly employed medication was alendronate, which was prescribed in 80% of individuals,” Malik said.
He added 1% of patients received an injection of Forteo (teriparatide, Lilly), which had an average cost of approximately $1,500 per injection.
Older patients, patients with Asian ethnicity or race or Hispanic ethnicity, patients from either the southern or western United States and patients with a higher comorbidity burden had an increased odds of receiving anti-osteoporosis medication, according to Malik.
“Now, more interestingly, male patients, patients who belonged to Black or African American ethnicity or patients from the Northeast were less likely to receive anti-osteoporotic medication within the year following the fracture,” Malik said.
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Malik AT, et al. Paper 2. Presented at: American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting; Oct. 1-3, 2020 (virtual meeting).
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