Background: Effect of vertebral fracture on the perceived health using the SF-36 Health Questionnaire in a representative population older than 54 years.
Subjects and method: Randomly cohort from the register of the city Hall of Oviedo. All the 299 subjects (147 men and 152 women) completed the traduced and validated Spanish SF-36 questionnaire four years after radiologic studies were performed to evaluate prevalent vertebral fractures.
Results: Vertebral fracture decreased the health related quality of life, particularly in physical function dimension in males and in mental health dimension in women. This effect was increased when osteopenia was present.
Conclusions: This first study performed in both sexes shows worse perceived health in people with fractures.