Healthy Dose: The Fear of Osteoporosis

I don't think there is anything more feared among the elderly than becoming totally dependent on others for help and perhaps being sent to a nursing home because they aren't able to care for themselves.

Fear of becoming dependent is the biggest concern for the elderly Cabrini religious sisters I have cared for more than 26 years. It turns out that suffering a debilitating hip fracture is one of most common reasons a person is sent to a nursing home. And when that happens, all too often people don't get the treatment they need to prevent future fractures and more pain and disability.

What is perhaps worse is that despite safe and effective remedies to diagnose and treat osteoporosis, too few people are getting the treatment they need to prevent a disabling hip fracture in the first place.

A new study led by researchers at Harvard Medical School found that less than 12 percent of patients admitted to a nursing home following a hip, wrist or shoulder fracture were treated for the osteoporosis, the bone-thinning disease of aging that likely caused their fracture.

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These findings are not really surprising to me. Previous studies have shown that despite federal initiatives to increase bone density testing to diagnose osteoporosis, less than 20 percent of women 65 and older have had a bone density test.

More incredible to me is that even after suffering fractures from osteoporosis, less than 20 percent of patients receive treatment to prevent future fractures and disability even if they are hospitalized and treated for their fractures.

The good news is that there is a lot we can do to diagnose, prevent and treat fractures from osteoporosis and, therefore, hopefully avoid that difficult decision about a nursing home altogether.

I would urge the following for all women who are at risk for this bone-thinning disease:

Ask your doctor about getting a bone density test. Experts recommend this test for all women 65 years of age and older and younger women who have a number of risk factors such as family history of hip fracture, chronic use of steroid medication, et cetera. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has recently cut back on reimbursement for bone density scans done in private doctors' offices where many of the scans are done, so it may soon be more difficult than ever to find a facility to do the test for you.