Prevalence of risk factors for fragility fracture in men aged 40 to 90 years of a Spanish basic Rural Health Area]

Background: Osteoporosis and as a consequence fragility fractures have emerged in recent years as a major public health issue in developed countries. Although its epidemiology and risk factors in postmenopausal women are well known, few studies exist focused on analyzing this pathology in men. Our objective is to determine the prevalence of fragility fracture risk factors in men belonging to our population and to calculate the absolute risk of major osteoporotic fracture and hip fracture. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted in a Rural Health Basic Area. The target population was composed by males between 40 and 90 years old. Causes of exception were not considered. Personal interviews were carried out collecting the following data: age, weight, height, body mass index (BMI), previous fractures, background on parent hip fracture, smoking habits, use of corticosteroids, background on rheumatoid arthritis, secondary osteoporosis, alcohol and bone mineral density (BMD). With this data, later in our Health Center, the Absolute Fracture Risk and the Hip Fracture Risk were calculated using the FRAX (R) tool. Results: 431 cases were studied. Mean age 65,8 +/- 13,9 years old and BMI 28,4 +/- 4,3 kg/m(2). BMD had not been determined for any of the patients. Prevalence of risk factors: previous fracture 3,7%; parents with hip fractures 10,4%; smokers 21,1%; glucocorticoids 2,8%; rheumatoid arthritis 0,9%; secondary osteoporosis 2,3%; alcohol 30,9%. Absolute fracture risk, 3,7 +/- 3,1 95% CI (3,43-4,02); hip fracture risk 1,7 +/- 2,5 95% CI (1,51-1,98). Conclusion: Particularly important for males, the elimination of alcohol and tobacco.