Fracture risk assessment in the general population in Spain by FRAX® algorithm. EPISER2016 study

Abstract

Objectives: To analyse the risk of fracture calculated by FRAX® and the frequency of high risk of fracture in the general population in Spain.

Methods: EPISER2016 is a multicentre cross-sectional population-based study of the prevalence of rheumatic diseases in the adult population in Spain. 3,154 subjects aged ≥40 years (1,184 men and 1,970 women) were selected by stratified random sampling. The questions related to fracture risk factors were asked by telephone survey. The risk of major osteoporotic fracture (MOFR) and hip fracture (HFR) were calculated with the Spanish version of the FRAX® tool, without the inclusion of bone mineral density. To define high fracture risk, the MOFR≥20%, MOFR≥10%, MOFR≥7.5% and HFR≥3% thresholds were used.

Results: The median (interquartile range) of the MOFR was 2.61% (1.55-6.34%) in women and 1.67% (1.15-2.87%) in men, whereas that of the HFR was 0.39% (0.14-1.86%) and 0.18% (0.07-0.77%); 3.83% of women and no men had a MOFR≥20%; 15.71% and 1.14% had a MOFR≥10%; 20.62% and 2.21%, a MOFR≥7.5%; and 19.27% and 8.05%, an HFR≥3%. In women aged 65 and over, the HFR was high in 58.09%.

Conclusions: EPISER2016 enabled us to establish the risk of fracture calculated by FRAX® and the prevalence of high risk of fracture in the general population according to the different thresholds used in Spain.

Keywords: FRAX®; Factor de riesgo; General population; Población general; Riesgo de fractura; Risk factor; Risk of fracture.