New IOF Report Supports Understanding of FRAX(R)

NYON, Switzerland - The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) will issue a new 16-page report on FRAX(R) to mark World Osteoporosis Day. The report is available at www.iofbonehealth.org.

FRAX(R), or ‘WHO Fracture Risk Assessment Tool’, is a free online tool developed by the World Health Organization at www.shef.ac.uk/FRAX/ . The tool helps clinicians identify people who are most in need of treatment based on fracture risk rather than bone mineral density (BMD) values alone. Now available for 18 countries and in six languages, FRAX(R) is country-specific and can be used with or without BMD values, thus making it particularly useful in regions where DXA technology is scarce or not available.

Osteoporotic fractures can have devastating consequences and their prevention is essential to the maintenance of health, quality of life and independence in old age. The disease is so common that, around the world, one in three women and one in five men over the age of fifty suffer fractures, at enormous cost to individuals, the healthcare system and society as a whole. In issuing the report, IOF is working to bring understanding of FRAX(R) to a broad audience of health professionals so that more people at risk of debilitating fractures are identified and treated before these fractures occur.

Dr. Eugene McCloskey of the University of Sheffield and author of the report, says, “I encourage clinicians to make FRAX(R) a part of their clinical assessment of patients. With timely treatment and advice, fractures and their serious repercussions can be prevented.”

About IOF The International Osteoporosis Foundation is a not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization dedicated to the worldwide fight against osteoporosis, the disease known as “the silent epidemic”. For more information about IOF visit www.iofbonehealth.org

For interviews, contact info@iofbonehealth.org

Contact: Laura Misteli Tel.: +41-22-994-01-00

Source: International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF)

Contact: Laura Misteli, Tel.: +41-22-994-01-00