 National Osteoporosis
Foundation Guidelines
The practicing physician needs to determine
which patients are at risk for an osteoporotic
fracture and when treatment should be initiated.
The NOF has developed guidelines for selecting
patients who should receive treatment to reduce
the risk of fracture and these are based primarily
on BMD (i.e., T-scores) together
with other risk factors in addition to low BMD.10 The NOF guidelines (with are based on DXA-derived
T-scores determined at the hip) recommend treatment
in the following clinical situations:
- Women with T-scores below -2.0 with no risk
factors
- Women with T-scores below -1.5 with one
or more risk
factors for fractures
- Women with a prior vertebral or hip fracture
The presence of a vertebral fracture significantly
increases the lifetime risk of subsequent fractures
and there are data to show that women who develop
a vertebral fracture are at substantial risk for
additional fracture within the next year.26 |
