Landmark study to improve osteoporosis care standards worldwide

Apr 10 2008

Nearly 60,000 women aged 55 years and older have enrolled in a landmark, multi-national study that will focus on the management of osteoporosis across the globe.

Launch of the Global Longitudinal Registry of Osteoporosis in Women (GLOW) was announced today at ECCEO 8 (Eighth European Congress on Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis) in Istanbul, Turkey. This groundbreaking observational study (registry) in osteoporosis aims to gain insights to improve the standard of care for postmenopausal women at risk of osteoporosis.

“We know that there are patients at high risk for osteoporosis, sometimes already having suffered a broken bone, who aren't getting diagnosed and treated. We have to figure out why not,” said Dr. Robert Lindsay, GLOW Executive Committee Co-Chair and Chief of Internal Medicine at Helen Hayes Hospital, West Haverstraw, NY. “Globally we have an aging female population that wants to maintain independence and vitality. We can help by finding the key to improving diagnosis and treatment of this debilitating disease.”

GLOW will monitor tens of thousands of older women who have visited a primary care physician in the past two years. Since patient recruitment for GLOW is not linked to osteoporosis diagnosis and does not alter physician practice, the study provides a good representation of “typical” older women and the bone health care they receive in the real world. Women are participating from 17 cities in 10 countries on 3 continents.

“We want to understand regional differences in physician and patient behavior and how that impacts patient outcomes,” said Professor Pierre Delmas, GLOW Executive Committee Co-Chair and Professor of Medicine and Rheumatology, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, France. “Hopefully, armed with that knowledge we will be able to recommend best practices and improve the management of osteoporosis worldwide.”

GLOW is being conducted by The Center for Outcomes Research (COR), University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), with the support of an unrestricted research grant from The Alliance for Better Bone Health. The Alliance for Better Bone Health is a collaboration between sanofi-aventis and Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals.

“We are grateful for the commitment of the sponsors and scientific advisors to the GLOW project. We anticipate that these data will provide important information to improve the quality of lives of women at risk for osteoporotic fractures," said Dr. Fred Anderson, Director of the Center for Outcomes Research and research professor of surgery and medicine at UMMS.

.“This pioneering initiative will be the first comprehensive multi-national look into the relationship between risk factors, patient outcomes and treatment patterns for osteoporosis.”