Fewer Older Women Get Bone-Density Test
Posted on: Wednesday, 8 February 2006, 00:00 CST
Medical College of Wisconsin scientists say women who most need bone-density testing to determine if they have osteoporosis are the least likely to get it.
The study found older women who are among the highest risk groups and who suffer most if they break a bone are reluctant to undergo testing.
Over half of hip fracture patients never regain their prior level of functioning and 20 percent of them require nursing home care, said Dr. Joan Neuner, lead author and an assistant professor of medicine. Women are very interested in preventing bone fractures. In an earlier study, 80 percent of women said they would 'rather die' than enter a nursing home with a hip fracture.
In osteoporosis, the body breaks down bone faster than it is replaced, leading to lace-like, fragile bones. Nineteen percent of women in age 65-74 suffer from osteoporosis, 32.5 percent of women age 75-84 have the condition, as do more than half of women over age 85.
Since osteoporosis can be helped with appropriate therapy, it is especially important for older women to find out whether or not they need the therapy, said Neuner. But the researchers found just the opposite: The older the age group, the fewer women had bone-density tests.
The study is published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Geriatric Society.
Source: United Press International
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