Frax calculation tool usa
The simplicity of the instrument, its availability as both online and paper-based models, lack of cost, and applicability to South Asia (using Indian Singaporean Indian ethnic, or Sri Lankan data) all call for more wide spread use in our part of the world.Īs FRAX is a non-commercial tool, it has not received the push that it deserves. Apart from its utility in informing diagnostic and therapeutic decisions, FRAX calculations help spread public awareness about osteoporosis, and may encourage healthy behaviour in persons exposed to the tool.Īll these advantages, however, will translate into better health only if we begin to use FRAX extensively. A treatment threshold, specific for each age and gender, can be calculated to help decide necessity for anti-osteoporotic therapy. It can be used as pre-screening test, to decide whether or not to order a DEXA as an adjunct or as an alternative to BMD measurement.
Sri Lanka, too, with 134 FRAX calculations per million population, makes relatively better use of FRAX, perhaps due to a vibrant, endocrine community that is proactive in spreading medical education.įRAX can be used in different manners. Bhutan (242) and the Maldives (96) outperform their larger neighbours, in spite of having no formal endocrinology associations. The South Asian countries of Afghanistan (2 calculations of FRAX per million population aged 50 years or above), Nepal (15), Myanmar (16), Pakistan (23), Bangladesh (29), and India (36), report low usage of FRAX. This is heartening, as most of these countries enjoy easy availability of DEXA they still find FRAX a useful tool.
New Zealand, UK, Lebanon, Canada, Sweden and Ireland report over 6000 calculations per million population aged 50 or more. Bermuda, Slovenia, Switzerland, USA and Belgium, all report over 1000 calculations of FRAX for every million inhabitants aged 50 years or more.
#Frax calculation tool usa full
5 While most European, North American and Australasian countries use the model extensively, South Asian countries have not begun to take full advantage of this freely available, validated tool. Recently, researchers have assessed the uptake or utilization of FRAX across the world. This algorithm, known as FRAX tool, utilizes various history-based questions related to risk factors, and simple anthropometric data, with or without BMD data, to calculate the probability of hip and/ or major osteoporotic data, over up to 10 years.2,3 2,3 The Journal of Pakistan Medical Association has highlighted the relevance of FRAX to Pakistan and South Asia, while encouraging its use in region. A better tool, however, has been available since 2008, to compute the fracture probability or risk. Though the gold standard for diagnosis is bone mineral density (BMD), performed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), 1 this investigation is inaccessible to patients in many parts of the world. However, its management is marked by wide disparity, and major differences, across the world. The management of osteoporosis has undergone significant changes in the past decades. The output is a 10-year probability of hip fracture and the 10-year probability of a major osteoporotic fracture (clinical spine, forearm, hip or shoulder fracture).Osteoporosis, and the fractures that result from it, are a global public health issue. The FRAX® algorithms give the 10-year probability of fracture. Several simplified paper versions, based on the number of risk factors are also available, and can be downloaded for office use. In their most sophisticated form, the FRAX® tool is computer-driven and is available on this site. The FRAX® models have been developed from studying population-based cohorts from Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. It is based on individual patient models that integrate the risks associated with clinical risk factors as well as bone mineral density (BMD) at the femoral neck. The FRAX® tool has been developed to evaluate fracture risk of patients.