Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #310682
Title: The clinical diagnosis of Osteoporosis: A position statement from the National Bone Health Alliance working group

Author
item SIRIS, ETHEL - Columbia University Medical Center
item ADLER, ROBERT - Virginia Commonwealth University
item BILESIKIAN, JOHN - Columbia University Medical Center
item BOLOGNESE, MICHAEL - Bethesda Health Research
item DAWSON-HUGHES, BESS - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item FAVUS, MURRAY - University Of Chicago
item HARRIS, STEVEN - University Of California
item JAN DE BEUR, SUZANNE - Johns Hopkins University
item KHOSLA, SUNDEEP - Mayo Clinic
item LANE, NANCY - University Of California
item LINDSAY, ROBERT - Helen Hayes Hospital
item NANA, ARVIND - University Of North Texas
item ORWOLL, ERIC - Oregon Health & Science University
item SAAG, KENNETH - University Of Alabama
item SILVERMAN, STUART - Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
item WATTS, NELSON - Mercy Health Physicians

Submitted to: Osteoporosis International
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/11/2014
Publication Date: 2/15/2014
Citation: Siris, E.S., Adler, R., Bilesikian, J., Bolognese, M., Dawson-Hughes, B., Favus, M.J., Harris, S.T., Jan De Beur, S.M., Khosla, S., Lane, N.E., Lindsay, R., Nana, A.D., Orwoll, E.S., Saag, K., Silverman, S., Watts, N.B. 2014. The clinical diagnosis of Osteoporosis: A position statement from the National Bone Health Alliance working group. Osteoporosis International. 25(5):1439-1443.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Osteoporosis is a common disorder of reduced bone strength that predisposes to an increased risk for fractures in older individuals. In the United States, the standard criterion for the diagnosis of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and older men is a T-score less than or equal to-2.5 at the lumbar spine, femur neck, or total hip by bone mineral density testing. Under the direction of the National Bone Health Alliance, 16 clinicians and clinical scientists were appointed to a Working Group charged to determine the appropriate expansion of the criteria by which osteoporosis can be diagnosed. The group recommends that postmenopausal women and men aged 50 years should be diagnosed with osteoporosis if they have a demonstrable elevated risk for future fractures. This includes having a T-score less than or equal to-2.5 at the spine or hip as one method for diagnosis, but also permits diagnosis for individuals in this population who have experienced a hip fracture with or without BMD testing and for those who have osteopenia by BMD who sustain a vertebral, proximal humeral, pelvic, or, in some cases, distal forearm fracture. Finally, the term osteoporosis should be used to diagnose individuals with an elevated fracture risk based on the World Health Organization Fracture Risk Algorithm, FRAX.As new ICD-10 codes become available, it is our hope that this new understanding of what osteoporosis represents will allow for appropriate diagnosis when older individuals are recognized as being at an elevated risk for fracture.