| Osteoporosis is one of the most prevalent diseases of aging. Osteoporotic fractures, particularly those occurring at the hip, are the cause of considerable disability, chronic pain, decreased quality of life, and even death among older Americans. Early detection of osteoporosis through bone mineral density measurement is one option for reducing the growing health care burden related to osteoporotic fractures. In the absence of universal screening for low bone mineral density, various osteoporosis risk factors and risk assessment tools have been identified and implemented in osteoporosis and low bone mineral density case finding strategies although these tools have limited efficiencies. The following report describes the development of gender-specific risk assessment tools using non-traditional and novel risk factors to identify women and men in a multi-ethnic population who are likely to have low bone mineral density. The relationships between low bone mineral density and these non-traditional risk factors varied by gender and by age, however each novel method had utility for identifying high risk individuals. Recommendations for refining the novel gender-specific risk assessment tools for use in a clinical setting are presented as well as suggestions for future studies to improve low bone mineral density and osteoporosis risk assessment in a multi-ethnic population of women and men. |
