Characteristics of osteoporotic fracture risk among the elderly: FRAX®-based evaluation

Objective. This study aims to describe the characteristics of osteoporosis-related fracture risk in the elderly population as an effort for early detection and also to increase awareness of osteoporosis. Materials and methods. This was an observational study using secondary data from community service focusing on “Osteoporosis Fracture Risk Education”, which was carried out in collaboration with Syarifah Ambami Rato Ebu Bangkalan Hospital involving a total of 109 elderly, aged over 50 years, that also collected data including age, gender, height, weight, BMI, and Fracture Risk Assessment (FRAX® tool) questionnaire. Several statistical tests, e.g., Independent T-test and ANOVA, were carried out for additional analysis. Results. The characteristics from 109 elderly showed an average age of 69.8 (+/-5.7) years, 68 (62.4%) were female, and an average BMI of 22.4 (+/-3.6) kg/m². The FRAX measurements resulted in an average risk of major osteoporosis fractures of 5.7 (+/-3.2) and an average risk of hip fractures of 2.9 (+/-2.3), with the hip fracture risk being much higher than the major osteoporotic risk (72.4% vs 11%), respectively. Analysis by Independent T-test and ANOVA revealed a higher fracture risk score in female (p-value < 0.05), and correlation of higher age, lower body weight, and lower BMI in elderly with higher risk fracture categories (all resulted in p-value < 0.05). Conclusion. This study underlines that the increased risk of major osteoporotic fracture as well as hip fractures using the FRAX® tool in the elderly showed a higher tendency in female, older age, and low BMI.