brand logo

Am Fam Physician. 2022;106(5):587-588

This clinical content conforms to AAFP criteria for CME.

Author disclosure: No relevant financial relationships.

Key Points for Practice

• Routine exercise, including aerobic and resistance activities, helps prevent bone loss; exercise also helps prevent falls in older adults.

• Calcium and vitamin D supplementation has not been shown to reduce fracture risk.

• Bone density screening is recommended for all postmenopausal patients 65 years and older. Younger patients with an estimated fracture risk of greater than 8.4% also benefit from screening.

From the AFP Editors

Osteoporosis is common in women, and one-half of women will experience an osteoporotic fracture in their lifetime. Important considerations to prevent osteoporotic fracture include exercise, fall risk assessment, and screening with bone density testing. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has new recommendations about screening for and diagnosis of osteoporosis.

Health Inequities in Osteoporosis

Screening, testing, and treatment of osteoporosis are all affected by health inequity. Black women are less likely to be screened than other racial groups and less likely than White women to be treated for osteoporosis. Hispanic and Black women are 60% less likely to receive bone density testing after a hip fracture, and nearly 10% fewer Black women receive treatment for osteoporosis than White women. These disparities offset the effect of higher prevalence of osteoporosis in White women.

Already a member/subscriber?  Log In

Subscribe

From $165
  • Immediate, unlimited access to all AFP content
  • More than 130 CME credits/year
  • AAFP app access
  • Print delivery available
Subscribe

Issue Access

$59.95
  • Immediate, unlimited access to this issue's content
  • CME credits
  • AAFP app access
  • Print delivery available
Purchase Access:  Learn More

Coverage of guidelines from other organizations does not imply endorsement by AFP or the AAFP.

This series is coordinated by Michael J. Arnold, MD, associate medical editor.

A collection of Practice Guidelines published in AFP is available at https://www.aafp.org/afp/practguide.

Continue Reading

More in AFP

More in PubMed

Copyright © 2022 by the American Academy of Family Physicians.

This content is owned by the AAFP. A person viewing it online may make one printout of the material and may use that printout only for his or her personal, non-commercial reference. This material may not otherwise be downloaded, copied, printed, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any medium, whether now known or later invented, except as authorized in writing by the AAFP.  See permissions for copyright questions and/or permission requests.