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There has been interest in the clinical potential of bone turnover markers (BTMs) as tools both for assessing fracture risk and for monitoring treatment. However, the practical use of BTMs has been limited by their biological variability and difficulties in the interpretation of results. We investigated the current situation of application of BTMs by clinicians in Korea for the management of osteoporosis through a survey asking the patterns of BTMs prescription in clinical practice.
The survey was conducted online using the “google survey” by the BTM committee authorized by the Korean Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Total 108 clinicians responded the survey. Most of the respondents prescribed BTMs (80.6%) when they prescribed anti-osteoporotic medications (AOMs). The most frequently prescribed bone resorption and formation markers were serum C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (90.7%) and osteocalcin (65.1%), respectively. BTMs were mostly prescribed before starting AOMs (90.8%) and used for the purpose of evaluating treatment response (74.4%). Treatment response and compliance to AOMs were evaluated according to the change of absolute value of BTMs (55.1%). The respondents complained difficulties in the interpretation of BTMs (33.3%), the choice of proper BTMs (17.2%), and the proper sample preparation and handling (13.8%).
In Korea, most of clinicians recognized the benefit of BTMs in the management of osteoporosis. However, there are limitations in the broad use of these markers in clinical practice. Therefore, a clear recommendation for BTM in Korea enhances their use in clinical practice.
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Osteoporosis and attributable fractures are disruptive health events that can cause short and long-term cost consequences for families, health service and government. In this fracture-based scenario analysis we evaluate the broader public economic consequences for the Korean government based on fractures that can occur at 3 different ages.
We developed a public economic modelling framework based on population averages in Korea for earnings, direct taxes, indirect taxes, disability payments, retirement, pension payments, and osteoporosis health costs. Applying a scenario analysis, we estimated the cumulative average per person fiscal consequences of osteoporotic fractures occurring at different ages 55, 65, and 75 compared to average non-fracture individuals of comparable ages to estimate resulting costs for government in relation to lost tax revenue, disability payments, pension costs, and healthcare costs. All costs are calculated between the ages of 50 to 80 in Korean Won (KRW) and discounted at 0.5%.
From the scenarios explored, fractures occurring at age 55 are most costly for government with increased disability and pension payments of KRW 26,048,400 and KRW 41,094,206 per person, respectively, compared to the non-fracture population. A fracture can result in reduction in lifetime direct and indirect taxes resulting in KRW 53,648,886 lost tax revenue per person for government compared to general population.
The fiscal consequences of osteoporotic fractures for government vary depending on the age at which they occur. Fiscal benefits for government are greater when fractures are prevented early due to the potential to prevent early retirement and keeping people in the labor force to the degree that is observed in non-fracture population.
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Current evidences continue to support the clinical application of bone turnover markers (BTMs) in the management of postmenopausal osteoporosis. The limitations of bone mineral density measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiomet especially emphasize the beneficial roles of BTMs, such as serum C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen and serum procollagen type I N-propeptide, as monitoring tools to assess the responses to treatment. Therefore, the proper application and assessment of BTM in clinical practice is very important. However, their use in Korea is still insufficient. Therefore, the BTM committee has set up by the Korean Society for Bone and Mineral Research have been constituted and provided a position statement which will suggest on the clinical application of BTM for the management of postmenopausal osteoporosis in Korea.
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Bone turnover markers (BTMs) have important role in the management of osteoporosis. Recently the clinical application of BTMs has achieved significant progress and measurement of BTMs give us better understanding of pathogenesis of osteoporosis. However, the use of BTMs is still insufficient in Korea. We summarized the available methods and standard interval of the BTMs in Korea. Also we reviewed published literatures on pre-analytical variability in the measurement of BTMs and provided recommendations for standardized sample handling and patient preparation for reducing those pre-analytical variabilities. The clinical application of BTMs in patients with chronic kidney disease who have a higher fracture risk than the general population is summarized.
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To develop guidelines and recommendations to prevent and treat glucocorticoid (GC)-induced osteoporosis (GIOP) in Korea.
The Korean Society for Bone and Mineral Research and the Korean College of Rheumatology have developed this guideline based on Guidance for the Development of Clinical Practice Guidelines ver. 1.0 established by the National Evidence-Based Healthcare Collaborating Agency. This guideline was developed by adapting previously published guidelines, and a systematic review and quality assessment were performed.
This guideline applies to adults aged ≥19 years who are using or plan to use GCs. It does not include children and adolescents. An initial assessment of fracture risk should be performed within 6 months of initial GC use. Fracture risk should be estimated using the fracture-risk assessment tool (FRAX) after adjustments for GC dose, history of osteoporotic fractures, and bone mineral density (BMD) results. All patients administered with prednisolone or an equivalent medication at a dose ≥2.5 mg/day for ≥3 months are recommended to use adequate calcium and vitamin D during treatment. Patients showing a moderate-to-high fracture risk should be treated with additional medication for osteoporosis. All patients continuing GC therapy should undergo annual BMD testing, vertebral X-ray, and fracture risk assessment using FRAX. When treatment failure is suspected, switching to another drug should be considered.
This guideline is intended to guide clinicians in the prevention and treatment of GIOP.
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The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of an educational intervention that includes information sharing about absolute fracture risk on the knowledge of osteoporosis and modifiable risk factors among Korean patients with osteoporosis.
Adults aged >50 years who visited the outpatient clinic for osteoporosis were recruited. Subjects with trauma-related fractures or pathological fractures were excluded. The anthropometric data and clinical risk factors for fracture were collected at baseline. The participants completed the survey questionnaire that measured their knowledge regarding osteoporosis at baseline and then received information about the risk of fracture and individual education. Fracture risk was classified into five groups according to degree. The post-survey was conducted 3 months later. The pretest results were compared with the posttest results.
In this study, 179 subjects (15 men and 164 women) were enrolled. After the educational intervention, the mean osteoporosis knowledge score significantly increased from 10.6±5.7 at pre-education (baseline) to 11.7±6.3 at post-education (
Simple educational intervention is effective in increasing osteoporosis knowledge among Korean patients with osteoporosis. It may confer some benefit by providing information about osteoporotic fracture risks to improve knowledge and awareness regarding osteoporosis.
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The present study estimated healthcare costs of osteoporotic fractures including spine, hip, distal radius and humerus in Koreans over 50 years of age using national claims data.
Korea National Health Insurance data between 2008 and 2011 was searched for all claims records of outpatient visits or hospital admissions of patients ≥50-year-of-age. Osteoporosis-related fractures were identified using certain the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes and site-specific physician claims for procedures in a patient age cut-off value of 50 years. The healthcare costs included acute phase costs accounting for emergency medical care given immediately after fracture, costs due to further hospitalization and surgical procedures, physiotherapy sessions according to the site of the fracture, and outpatient visits in the year after discharge.
The total estimated healthcare costs of osteoporotic fractures in 2011 was $722 million. From 2008 to 2011, the total number and healthcare costs of osteoporotic fractures increased 28.9% (from 127,070 to 163,823) and 31.6% (from $549 million to $722 million), respectively. The portion of national health care expenditure was ranged from 2.3% in 2008 to 2.2% in 2011. The mean healthcare cost of osteoporotic fractures per person increased 2.1% from $4,321 in 2008 to $4,410 in 2011.The mean healthcare costs were highest for hip fractures followed by spine, humerus, and distal radius fractures.
Total Healthcare costs of osteoporotic fractures in South Koreans ≥50-year-of-age increased between 2008 and 2011. This trend will likely continue, which is an important health problem in the elderly population and economically.
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Comparison of a Novel Muscle Training Device with Conventional Rehabilitation Training in Motor Dysfunction of Lower Limb Patients: A Pilot Study
The aim of this study was to evaluate the longitudinal changes of trabecular bone score (TBS) during and after bisphosphonate (BP) treatment in postmenopausal Korean women with osteoporosis.
We analyzed 191 patients who took BP and underwent bone mineral density (BMD) test for the period from January 2010 to December 2015. The mean follow up period during treatment and after treatment was 22.8 months and 18 months, respectively. The TBS and BMD values were evaluated by the percent changes relative to the baseline.
In 191 patients, who treated with BPs, L-spine BMD increased 3.65±0.5% and TBS increased 0.26±0.4% from baseline during first 1 year. At 2 to 4 years, the changes of BMD and TBS from baseline gradually increased up to 9.3±3.25% and 2.69±0.98% and both results showed statistically significant correlation. In 86 patients who stopped BPs, L-spine BMD decreased -0.54±1.07% and TBS increased 0.33±1.96% from baseline during 3 years follow up period.
Lumbar spine TBS increase over time with BPs treatment although the changes were less than that of BMD. Also, it preserve for years after stopping treatment, as the changes of lumbar spine BMD. The results of BMD and TBS showed significant correlation during treatment but not during drug withdrawal.
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Although dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is known to standard equipment for bone mineral density (BMD) measurements. Different results of BMD measurement using a number of different types of devices are difficult to use clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate discrepancy and standardizations of DXA devices from three manufactures using a European Spine Phantom (ESP).
We calculated the accuracy and precision of 36 DXA devices from three manufacturers (10 Hologic, 16 Lunar, and 10 Osteosys) using a ESP (semi-anthropomorphic). The ESP was measured 5 times on each equipment without repositioning. Accuracy was assessed by comparing BMD (g/cm2) values measured on each device with the actual value of the phantom. Precision was assessed by the coefficient of variation (CVsd).
Lunar devices were, on average, 22%, 8.3%, and 5% overestimation for low (L1) BMD values, medium (L2), and high (L3) BMD values. Hologic devices were, on average, 6% overestimation for L1 BMD, and 5% and 6.2% underestimation for L2 and L3 BMD values. Osteosys devices was, on average, 12.7% (0.063 g/cm2), 6.3% (0.062 g/cm2), and 5% (0.075 g/cm2) underestimation for L1, L2, and L3, respectively. The mean CVsd for L1-L3 BMD were 0.01%, 0.78%, and 2.46% for Lunar, Hologic, and Osteosys devices respectively.
The BMD comparison in this study demonstrates that BMD result of three different devices are significant different between three devices. Differences of BMD between three devices are necessary to BMD standardization.
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There has been lack of epidemiology of proximal humerus fracture using nationwide database in Asia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of proximal humerus fracture and its mortality following proximal humerus fracture in Korean over 50 years of age.
The Korean National Health Insurance data were evaluated to determine the incidence and mortality of proximal humerus fracture aged 50 years or older from 2008 through 2012.
Proximal humerus fracture increased by 40.5% over 5 year of study. The incidence of fracture increased from 104.7/100,000 in 2008 to 124.7/100,000 in 2012 in women and from 45.3/100,000 in 2008 to 52.0/100,000 in 2012 in men, respectively. One year mortality rate after proximal humerus fracture was 8.0% in 2008 and 7.0% in 2012. One year mortality rate were 10.8% for men and 7.0% for women in 2008 and 8.5% for men and 6.4% for women in 2012.
Our study showed that the proximal humerus fracture in elderly was recently increasing and associated with high mortality in Korea. Considering proximal humerus fracture was associated with an increased risk of associated fractures and an increased mortality risk, public health strategy to prevent the proximal humerus fracture in elderly will be mandatory.
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