Fracture risk prediction in post-menopausal women with osteopenia and osteoporosis: preliminary findings

Objective: The study aims to identify the risk of obtaining a fracture among post-menopausal women with osteopenia and osteoporosis. Method: This work was a cross-sectional study involving a purposive sample of 87 post-menopausal women who attended the orthopedic and menopause clinics of Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan. The data were entered into the WHO fracture risk assessment tool (FRAX (R)) to predict major fracture and risk for hip fracture in 10 years' time. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 61.6 years (SD = 7.9). Among the respondents, 50.6% had osteopenia and nearly half (48.3%) had osteoporosis. The mean number of menopausal years of the respondents was 11.9 (SD = 8.5), ranging between 1 and 44 years. The FRAX findings indicated 9.7% major osteoporotic fracture probability and 3.5% hip fracture probability, which were denoted as high risk. A Pearson correlation coefficient was computed to assess the relationship between menopausal years and the FRAX major osteoporotic fracture probability. A significant positive correlation was found between the two, but the correlation was weak (r = 0.581, n = 87, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The present findings indicate that menopausal years have a positive correlation with the risk of obtaining a fracture. (C) 2018 Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. Todos los derechos reservados.