Engelsk titel: Vertebral fractures - a big health problem for elderly women?
Läs online
Författare:
Joakimsen RM
;
Berntsen GK
;
Fönnebö V
Språk: Nor
Antal referenser: 53
Dokumenttyp:
Översikt
UI-nummer: 01039619
Sammanfattning
BACKGROUND : The term osteoporosis often conjures up an image of deformed spines,--small stooping ladies burdened with back pain. Most modern medication against osteoporosis has documented effect first and foremost against vertebral fractures. However, are vertebral fractures a public health issue, and are they frequent and serious enough to warrant aggressive and expensive preventive measures?
MATERIAL AND METHODS : Through search in Medline with the terms "osteoporosis", "vertebral fracture*" and "vertebral deformities", we identified and reviewed a total of 222 scientific articles on vertebral fractures.
RESULTS : Incident vertebral deformities entail temporary complaints, and the consequences of prevalent deformities are minute unless there are several deformities. Less than 8% of back pain among the elderly can be attributed to vertebral deformities. A large double-blind, randomised clinical trial demonstrates that treatment that halves the risk of new vertebral deformities barely affects the occurrence of back pain or disability.
INTERPRETATION : Even if some patients' suffering is attributable to vertebral deformities, we conclude that vertebral deformities represent a minor public health problem. As a consequence, studies exploring predictors of painful vertebral fractures are warranted; furthermore, more documentation on prevention of non-vertebral fractures is needed.