Osteoporotic vertebral fracture in clinical practice. 669 Patients diagnosed over a 10 year period
OBJECTIVE: Few data are available on clinically diagnosed vertebral fracture. Information about osteoporotic vertebral fracture has mainly been obtained via inferences from epidemiological studies of vertebral deformity. We evaluated the characteristics of patients with osteoporotic vertebral fractu...
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| Published in: | Journal of rheumatology Vol. 28; no. 10; pp. 2289 - 2293 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Toronto, ON
The Journal of Rheumatology
01-10-2001
Journal of Rheumatology Publishing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | OBJECTIVE: Few data are available on clinically diagnosed vertebral fracture. Information about osteoporotic vertebral fracture
has mainly been obtained via inferences from epidemiological studies of vertebral deformity. We evaluated the characteristics
of patients with osteoporotic vertebral fracture diagnosed in a rheumatology department over a 10 year period. METHODS: Patients
with back pain and vertebral fracture diagnosed between January 1990 and December 1999 were recruited from our data base.
Patients with high energy trauma, malignancies, and metabolic bone diseases other than osteoporosis were excluded. These variables
were analyzed: sex, age at diagnosis, type of osteoporosis (primary vs secondary), number of fractures at diagnosis (single
vs multiple), and percentage of admissions and length of stay. RESULTS: Of the 669 patients, 534 (80%) were women and 135
(20%) were men. Age at diagnosis ranged from 30 to 91 yrs, mean 67.1 +/- 9.1. Secondary osteoporosis was diagnosed in 177
(26%) patients and the frequency was significantly higher in men than women (55% vs 19%; p < 0.001); the most common associations
for secondary osteoporosis were oral corticosteroids, chronic obstructive airway disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. At diagnosis,
half of the patients presented with multiple fractures. One hundred twenty (18%) patients were admitted; length of stay ranged
from 5 to 56 days, mean 15.9 +/- 7.7. The frequency of admissions was higher in men than women (27% vs 16%; p < 0.001), higher
in patients with secondary osteoporosis than in those with primary osteoporosis (33% vs 12%; p < 0.001), and higher in patients
with multiple fractures than in those with single fractures (27% vs 8%; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Characteristics of patients
recruited from a clinical setting differ significantly from those of subjects included in the epidemiological studies. In
a rheumatology practice, frequency of secondary osteoporosis, mainly associated with corticosteroid treatment, is notably
high. Admission is by no means a rare event. |
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| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
| ISSN: | 0315-162X 1499-2752 |