Abstract
The world Health Organization (WHO) issued the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) in order to estimate the 10-year fracture probability for patients with osteoporosis. We computed 10-year fracture probabilities using FRAX and compared them with lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD).
This study included 124 patients (13 men and 111 women, aged 50-86 years, mean age 69.8 years). The mean 10-year probabilities for a major osteoporosis-related fracture in individuals aged 50, 60, 70, and 80 years were 5.8%, 10.5%, 19.7%, and 25.1%, respectively. The relationship between the 10-year fracture probability and lumbar spine BMD was negative (r=−0.406). The mean 10-year fracture probabilities for a lumbar spine BMD of under 70%, 70∼79%, and over 80% were 18.4%, 13.9%, and 13.2%, respectively.
We considered that the FRAX cut-off value for reduction of osteoporosis-related fractures was 15%. Although FRAX is useful for screening of osteoporosis patients, we think that the 15% cut-off value is not suitable for patients over 80 years of age.
