Prospective Screening for Osteoporosis; Australian Primary Care Evaluation of Clinical Tests

Cross sectional survey to identify the prevalence of osteoporosis, the prevelance of vertebral fractures in the Australian primary care setting. General Practitioners (GPs) completed a case report form for consecutive patients who were 70 years of age and over and did not have a previous diagnosis of osteoporosis. The case report form included patient demographics, medical history, medications, clinical tests etc. and took approximately 10 minutes to complete. GPs refer patients for a Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) and verterbral X-ray scan at local I-med radiology centres, participating in the study. Second x-ray readings are performed by a single radiologist. The data is collected prospectively over a period of 6 months with GPs participating in the study for the same length of time.