What factors contribute most to the risk of developing an osteoporotic fracture?
- • Low BMD (two-fold increased risk for every one standard deviation [T-score] decrease of BMD).
- • Age (two-fold increased risk for every decade of age >60 years).
- • Previous fragility fracture (five-fold increased risk for a future fracture).
- • Frequent falls.
- • GC use.
Pearl: An older person is more likely to suffer a fracture than a younger person with the exact same T-score. This pearl also applies to a patient treated with GCs compared with a person who is not. Both age and GCs affect both bone mass and bone microarchitecture putting patients at risk for fractures at a higher T-score.
