Fragility fractures: 'Own the Bone' program for enhancing prevention and treatment

Feb 26 2010

As many as half of all women and a quarter of men over the age of 50 can expect to sustain a fractured bone related to osteoporosis or low bone density. To enhance prevention and treatment of these fragility fractures, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center has implemented an innovative program called Own the Bone™ developed by the American Orthopaedic Association.

"Research has shown that patients who have had a fragility fracture are four times more likely to experience another fracture than those who have never had a fracture. The Own the Bone program will help us ensure that our patients with fragility fractures are screened and appropriately treated for osteoporosis," says Dr. William Macaulay, chief of the Division of Adult Reconstruction and director of the Center for Hip and Knee Replacement at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, and the Anne Youle Stein Professor of Clinical Orthopaedic Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Fragility fractures, broken bones that result from a fall from standing height or less, are most commonly caused by osteoporosis. The American Bone Health Prevalence Report states that more people in the United States suffer a fragility fracture each year than are diagnosed with a heart attack, stroke or breast cancer combined, and is projected to significantly increase as the population ages. According to the National Committee for Quality Assurance, only one in five Medicare patients have received the osteoporosis care they needed after a fracture.