Gender Differences in Osteoporosis and Fractures

A literature survey was conducted using MEDLINE with a variety of search terms and using references from the author's personal collection of articles. A formal search strategy and exclusion criteria were not employed and the review is therefore selective. WHERE ARE WE NOW?: Postmenopausal women have a higher prevalence of osteoporosis and greater incidence of fracture than older men. Despite the higher fracture risk in postmenopausal women, older men tend to have worse outcomes after fracture and poorer treatment rates, although less is known about the disease course in men. Multifaceted interventions to improve the screening and treatment for osteoporosis were recently developed. WHERE DO WE NEED TO GO?: Improvement in treatment rates of those at risk, regardless of gender, is an important goal in osteoporosis management. HOW DO WE GET THERE?: Further development and evaluation of cost-effective, multifaceted interventions for screening and treatment of osteoporosis and fractures are needed; such interventions will likely improve the primary prevention of fractures.