Lora Giangregorio1,2,3 , Alexandra Papaioannou4,7 , Lehana Thabane7,8 , Justin deBeer5, Ann Cranney6, Lisa Dolovich4,7,8 , Anthony Adili5 and Jonathan D Adachi4
Abstract
Background
To evaluate factors associated with whether patients associate their fracture with future fracture risk.
Methods
Fragility fracture patients participated in a telephone interview. Unadjusted odds ratios (OR, [95% CI]) were calculated to identify factors associated with whether patients associate their fracture with increased fracture risk or osteoporosis. Predictors identified in univariate analysis were entered into multivariable logistic regression models.
Results
127 fragility fracture patients (82% female) participated in the study, mean (SD) age 67.5 (12.7) years. An osteoporosis diagnosis was reported in 56 (44%) participants, but only 17% thought their fracture was related to osteoporosis. Less than 50% perceived themselves at increased risk of fracture. The odds of an individual perceiving themselves at increased risk for fracture were higher for those that reported a diagnosis of osteoporosis (OR 22.91 [95%CI 7.45;70.44], p < 0.001), but the odds decreased with increasing age (0.95 [0.91;0.99], p<0.009). The only variable significantly associated with the perception that the fracture was related to osteoporosis was self-reported osteoporosis diagnosis (39.83 [8.15;194.71], p<0.001).
Conclusion
Many fragility fracture patients do not associate their fracture with osteoporosis. It is crucial for physicians to communicate to patients that an osteoporosis diagnosis, increasing age or a fragility fracture increases the risk for future fracture.
1Department of Kinesiology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
2Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
4Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
5Department of Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
6Ottawa Health Research Institute, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
7Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
8Centre for Evaluation of Medicines, St Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2008, 9:38doi:10.1186/1471-2474-9-38
Published: 21 March 2008
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.