How well are community-living women treated for osteoporosis after hip fracture?

OBJECTIVES: To examine whether women with recent hip fracture are receiving adequate treatment for osteoporosis. To examine patient and physician characteristics associated with adequate treatment for osteoporosis. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study with prospective and retrospective data collection. SETTING: Hartford County, Connecticut. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty community-living women age 65 and older identified from hospital databases with an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, code for nontraumatic hip fracture. MEASUREMENTS: Treatment for osteoporosis, healthcare utilization, primary care physician's specialty, Katz activities of daily living scale, Lawton instrumental activities of daily living scale, Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire, Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 12, and Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly. RESULTS: Only 13% of participants were receiving adequate treatment for osteoporosis as defined by the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) guidelines for osteoporosis, 47% reported partial treatment that did not meet NOF guidelines, and 40% were receiving no treatment for osteoporosis. No patient or physician characteristics were associated with the adequacy of treatment for osteoporosis in this small sample. CONCLUSIONS: Few of the women in our study were receiving adequate treatment for osteoporosis after hip fracture. There exists an opportunity to educate postmenopausal women and physicians about the importance of treatment for osteoporosis to increase the number of women offered and receiving osteoporosis treatment, especially older postmenopausal women with established, severe osteoporosis as evidenced by recent hip fracture.