FACTS ABOUT OSTEOPOROSIS

• Osteoporosis affects approximately 30 per cent of women over 50 years old (1)
• Women are at higher risk of osteoporosis because they have a lower bone mass and, for several years following the menopause, their rate of bone loss is accelerated
• The normal rate of bone loss is 1% per annum, but women can lose 3-5% annually for the first few years following the menopause (2)
• Over two million people in the UK suffer from osteoporosis now, but that could double in the next 20 years (3)
• Almost half of all women will have experienced a fracture by the time they are 70 years of age(4)
• Osteoporosis most commonly causes fractures of the spine, wrist and hip
• Annual number of fractures in the UK due to osteoporosis: (4)
  • Colles' 50,000
  • Vertebral 40,000
  • Hip 60,000
• Average age at which fractures occur in women:
  • Colles' 55+
  • Vertebral 65+
  • Hip 75+
• A person who experiences one osteoporotic fracture is significantly more likely than others to have subsequent fractures (5)
• Hip fracture is a leading cause of disability in the aged (2)
• Annual osteoporotic costs in England (1992/3 prices):
  • acute inpatient cost, £237m
  • primary care, £17m
  • outpatient care, £44m
  • institutional care, £444m
  • total cost £742m (4)
• Hip fracture is very costly to treat; the average length of stay in hospital after a hip fracture is 30 days (1)
• Following a hip fracture 20% will die within 1 year, 50% will be unable to walk independently, and 25% will require institutional care (2)
• More women die after hip fractures than from cancer of the ovaries, cervix and uterus (6)

References

1. WHO Study Group, WHO Technical Report Series, 843, p.6.
2. Consensus Development Conference, Amer. J. Med., 1993, 94, 646.
3. National Osteoporosis Society. Fighting Back!
4. Advisory Group on Osteoporosis, Department of Health, November 1994.
5. Ross, D., et al., Ann Intern Med., 1991, 114 (11) 919-923.
6. National Osteoporosis Society, Osteoporosis. A danger to all women ... and many men.