ROLE OF GP IN OSTEOPOROSIS MANAGEMENT
- Author:
Lau Tang CHING
1
Author Information
- Keywords: Osteoporosis; Fracture Liaison Service; Fracture Care
- From:The Singapore Family Physician 2018;44(3):36-38
- CountrySingapore
- Language:English
- Abstract: fractures will affect one-third of women andone-fifth of men 50 years old and older worldwide.1 Toprevent the inevitable rise in hip fracture occurrences,early patient identification is of paramount importance.Patients with timely osteoporosis diagnosis andappropriate management can remain fracture free.Fracture Liaison Services (FLSs) arecare-coordinator-based secondary fracture preventionprogrammes that systematically identify fragilityfracture patients, then assess, investigate and treatthem for underlying osteoporosis as appropriate.2 Theyare promoted by the International OsteoporosisFoundation (IOF) as a cost-effective strategy forreducing the osteoporosis care gap, the refracture rate,and mortality.3,4 Identifying patients with high fracturerisk using the WHO fracture risk assessment tool(FRAX), and discussing the treatment thresholds basedon patient’s ideas, concerns, expectations and caregoals, using a shared decision-making approach, is apatient-centric and cost-effective way to manageosteoporosis and prevent fractures.
