Screening Campaign Reaches Thousands

Saturday, 06 June 2009 20:06

Over 3,000 individuals in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area are now much more educated about their bone health than they were this time last month—and nearly half of them are at moderate or high risk for fracture. 

Over 3,000 individuals in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area are now much more educated about their bone health than they were this time last month—and nearly half of them are at moderate or high risk for fracture. 

To promote Osteoporosis Awareness Month in May, American Bone Health partnered with CBS 5 to launch the Put a Brake on Fractures screening campaign.  CBS 5 ran over 150 - 60-second vignettes to share information on the most state-of-the-art way to screen for osteoporosis—the FORE Fracture Risk CalculatorÔ, which was modified by Dr. Bruce Ettinger for American Bone Health.   In 2 minutes, adults age 45 and older can learn their ten-year fracture risk by answering a series of questions on a computer.  This risk assessment will revolutionize osteoporosis screening.

American Bone Health screened more than 3,700 people using the FORE Fracture Risk CalculatorÔ during May.  Some of these individuals tried the calculator at the 2^nd Annual Women’s Health Fair in San Leandro.  Others were scanned at their physician’s office, and some accessed the calculator through our website www.americanbonehealth.org.  Among those screened, 20.4% were shown to be at high risk for fracture and an additional 24.9% were at moderate risk.  On a positive note, these individuals are now armed with the knowledge to seek treatment and change their lifestyles before a fracture occurs.

In the Bay Area alone, we estimated that 600,000 individuals at risk for fracture remain unscreened.  These statistics reveal an osteoporosis epidemic, one that will only be eradicated if more and more people discover their fracture risk.