TBD Meeting (3149-22)

Patients with iron overload – serum ferritin greater than 1,000 mcg/L or a diagnosis of hemochromatosis or thalassemia – were 60% more likely to have an osteoporotic fracture during an up to 10-year follow-up than matched control patients, in a large study.

Compared with control patients, those with iron overload had a roughly twofold increased risk of a vertebral fracture, as well as an increased risk of a hip or humerus fracture, but not a forearm fracture.

The increased risk of fracture in men with iron overload (compared with other matched men) was greater than the increased risk of fracture in women with iron overload (compared with other matched women).

Andrea Burden, PhD, presented the findings during a late-breaking clinical science session at the annual meeting of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research.
 

‘We should worry about the bones as well as the liver’

Based on these results, clinicians should probably do earlier bone mineral density (BMD) determinations to screen for osteoporosis and perhaps consider prophylaxis with vitamin D and calcium, said Dr. Burden, assistant professor, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, ETH Zürich.

“However, I say that with a bunch of caution,” she added, “because we actually don’t have much evidence of the impact of these treatment differences on fracture risk.”

“This is the first large population study on this topic,” although there have been a few case reports, Dr. Burden explained in an interview.

However, “the high iron overload of greater than 1,000 mcg/L is not common, and hereditary hemochromatosis or thalassemia also are very rare,” she noted.

“The study shows that, once patients have an iron overload of more than 1,000 mcg/L, we need to be doing regular checks for their BMD and figuring how to best minimize their fracture risk,” she said.

“A twofold risk for a vertebral fracture” in patients with iron overload “is really high,” she noted. It is known that men with iron overload have loss of testosterone, but it may be less well known that they have an increased fracture risk.

“We worry about the liver,” she said, “not so much about the bones, and this shows us that we really should.”

Session comoderator Michael J. Econs, MD, who was not involved with the research, agreed. “Iron overload does occur, and it is a clinically important problem and can lead to hemochromatosis, which can lead to a whole host of diseases, but the most common is liver disease,” he told this news organization.

“So, it is a clinically important problem, not only in people who are genetically predisposed but in people who get frequent transfusion,” said Dr. Econs, distinguished professor of medicine and medical and molecular genetics at Indiana University, Indianapolis.

Now this new study has found an increase in fractures in such people, he noted.
 

Large case-control study used U.K. database

Using data from the IQVIA Medical Research Database, researchers identified 21,166 iron overload patients aged 18 years and older who saw a general practitioner in the United Kingdom between 2010 and 2020 and had a serum ferritin level above 1,000 mcg/L or a diagnostic code for hemochromatosis or nonanemic thalassemia.

They matched each iron overload patient with up to 10 control patients based on age, sex, year, and general practitioner, for a total of 198,037 control patients.

Patients were a mean age of 59 years and 59% were men.

During follow-up there were 777 fractures in the iron-overload patients (9.61 fractures per 1,000 patient-years) and 4,344 fractures in the control group (4.68 fractures per 1,000 patient-years).

In adjusted hazard ratio models, researchers adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, alcohol, smoking, history of fractures earlier than 365 days prior to study entry, hypogonadism, osteoporosis, medications, and comorbidities.

Overall, patients in the iron overload group had a 60% higher risk of an osteoporotic fracture (aHR, 1.60).

Among women, the incidence of osteoporotic fracture was 12.63 per 1,000 patient-years in the iron overload group and 7.09 per 1,000 patient-years in the control group.

Women with iron overload had a 48% higher risk of osteoporotic fracture, compared with other women (aHR, 1.48).

Among men, the incidence of osteoporotic fracture was 6.71 per 1,000 patient-years in the iron overload group and 3.01 per 1,000 patient-years in the control group.

Men with iron overload therefore had an 82% higher risk of osteoporotic fracture, compared with other men (aHR, 1.82).

Compared with patients without iron overload, patients with iron overload had an increased risk of a vertebral (aHR, 2.18), hip (aHR, 1.60), and humerus (aHR, 1.82) fracture but not a forearm fracture.

The researchers acknowledge that study limitations include they did not look at phlebotomy or changes in ferritin levels, and they excluded patients with hereditary hemochromatosis diagnosed before age 18.

The work was funded by the German Research Foundation. One of the researchers has reported receiving an independent grant from Pharmacosmos. The other researchers as well as Dr. Econs have reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Patients with iron overload – serum ferritin greater than 1,000 mcg/L or a diagnosis of hemochromatosis or thalassemia – were 60% more likely to have an osteoporotic fracture during an up to 10-year follow-up than matched control patients, in a large study.

Compared with control patients, those with iron overload had a roughly twofold increased risk of a vertebral fracture, as well as an increased risk of a hip or humerus fracture, but not a forearm fracture.

The increased risk of fracture in men with iron overload (compared with other matched men) was greater than the increased risk of fracture in women with iron overload (compared with other matched women).

Andrea Burden, PhD, presented the findings during a late-breaking clinical science session at the annual meeting of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research.
 

‘We should worry about the bones as well as the liver’

Based on these results, clinicians should probably do earlier bone mineral density (BMD) determinations to screen for osteoporosis and perhaps consider prophylaxis with vitamin D and calcium, said Dr. Burden, assistant professor, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, ETH Zürich.

“However, I say that with a bunch of caution,” she added, “because we actually don’t have much evidence of the impact of these treatment differences on fracture risk.”

“This is the first large population study on this topic,” although there have been a few case reports, Dr. Burden explained in an interview.

However, “the high iron overload of greater than 1,000 mcg/L is not common, and hereditary hemochromatosis or thalassemia also are very rare,” she noted.

“The study shows that, once patients have an iron overload of more than 1,000 mcg/L, we need to be doing regular checks for their BMD and figuring how to best minimize their fracture risk,” she said.

“A twofold risk for a vertebral fracture” in patients with iron overload “is really high,” she noted. It is known that men with iron overload have loss of testosterone, but it may be less well known that they have an increased fracture risk.

“We worry about the liver,” she said, “not so much about the bones, and this shows us that we really should.”

Session comoderator Michael J. Econs, MD, who was not involved with the research, agreed. “Iron overload does occur, and it is a clinically important problem and can lead to hemochromatosis, which can lead to a whole host of diseases, but the most common is liver disease,” he told this news organization.

“So, it is a clinically important problem, not only in people who are genetically predisposed but in people who get frequent transfusion,” said Dr. Econs, distinguished professor of medicine and medical and molecular genetics at Indiana University, Indianapolis.

Now this new study has found an increase in fractures in such people, he noted.
 

Large case-control study used U.K. database

Using data from the IQVIA Medical Research Database, researchers identified 21,166 iron overload patients aged 18 years and older who saw a general practitioner in the United Kingdom between 2010 and 2020 and had a serum ferritin level above 1,000 mcg/L or a diagnostic code for hemochromatosis or nonanemic thalassemia.

They matched each iron overload patient with up to 10 control patients based on age, sex, year, and general practitioner, for a total of 198,037 control patients.

Patients were a mean age of 59 years and 59% were men.

During follow-up there were 777 fractures in the iron-overload patients (9.61 fractures per 1,000 patient-years) and 4,344 fractures in the control group (4.68 fractures per 1,000 patient-years).

In adjusted hazard ratio models, researchers adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, alcohol, smoking, history of fractures earlier than 365 days prior to study entry, hypogonadism, osteoporosis, medications, and comorbidities.

Overall, patients in the iron overload group had a 60% higher risk of an osteoporotic fracture (aHR, 1.60).

Among women, the incidence of osteoporotic fracture was 12.63 per 1,000 patient-years in the iron overload group and 7.09 per 1,000 patient-years in the control group.

Women with iron overload had a 48% higher risk of osteoporotic fracture, compared with other women (aHR, 1.48).

Among men, the incidence of osteoporotic fracture was 6.71 per 1,000 patient-years in the iron overload group and 3.01 per 1,000 patient-years in the control group.

Men with iron overload therefore had an 82% higher risk of osteoporotic fracture, compared with other men (aHR, 1.82).

Compared with patients without iron overload, patients with iron overload had an increased risk of a vertebral (aHR, 2.18), hip (aHR, 1.60), and humerus (aHR, 1.82) fracture but not a forearm fracture.

The researchers acknowledge that study limitations include they did not look at phlebotomy or changes in ferritin levels, and they excluded patients with hereditary hemochromatosis diagnosed before age 18.

The work was funded by the German Research Foundation. One of the researchers has reported receiving an independent grant from Pharmacosmos. The other researchers as well as Dr. Econs have reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Patients with iron overload – serum ferritin greater than 1,000 mcg/L or a diagnosis of hemochromatosis or thalassemia – were 60% more likely to have an osteoporotic fracture during an up to 10-year follow-up than matched control patients, in a large study.

Compared with control patients, those with iron overload had a roughly twofold increased risk of a vertebral fracture, as well as an increased risk of a hip or humerus fracture, but not a forearm fracture.

The increased risk of fracture in men with iron overload (compared with other matched men) was greater than the increased risk of fracture in women with iron overload (compared with other matched women).

Andrea Burden, PhD, presented the findings during a late-breaking clinical science session at the annual meeting of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research.
 

‘We should worry about the bones as well as the liver’

Based on these results, clinicians should probably do earlier bone mineral density (BMD) determinations to screen for osteoporosis and perhaps consider prophylaxis with vitamin D and calcium, said Dr. Burden, assistant professor, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, ETH Zürich.

“However, I say that with a bunch of caution,” she added, “because we actually don’t have much evidence of the impact of these treatment differences on fracture risk.”

“This is the first large population study on this topic,” although there have been a few case reports, Dr. Burden explained in an interview.

However, “the high iron overload of greater than 1,000 mcg/L is not common, and hereditary hemochromatosis or thalassemia also are very rare,” she noted.

“The study shows that, once patients have an iron overload of more than 1,000 mcg/L, we need to be doing regular checks for their BMD and figuring how to best minimize their fracture risk,” she said.

“A twofold risk for a vertebral fracture” in patients with iron overload “is really high,” she noted. It is known that men with iron overload have loss of testosterone, but it may be less well known that they have an increased fracture risk.

“We worry about the liver,” she said, “not so much about the bones, and this shows us that we really should.”

Session comoderator Michael J. Econs, MD, who was not involved with the research, agreed. “Iron overload does occur, and it is a clinically important problem and can lead to hemochromatosis, which can lead to a whole host of diseases, but the most common is liver disease,” he told this news organization.

“So, it is a clinically important problem, not only in people who are genetically predisposed but in people who get frequent transfusion,” said Dr. Econs, distinguished professor of medicine and medical and molecular genetics at Indiana University, Indianapolis.

Now this new study has found an increase in fractures in such people, he noted.
 

Large case-control study used U.K. database

Using data from the IQVIA Medical Research Database, researchers identified 21,166 iron overload patients aged 18 years and older who saw a general practitioner in the United Kingdom between 2010 and 2020 and had a serum ferritin level above 1,000 mcg/L or a diagnostic code for hemochromatosis or nonanemic thalassemia.

They matched each iron overload patient with up to 10 control patients based on age, sex, year, and general practitioner, for a total of 198,037 control patients.

Patients were a mean age of 59 years and 59% were men.

During follow-up there were 777 fractures in the iron-overload patients (9.61 fractures per 1,000 patient-years) and 4,344 fractures in the control group (4.68 fractures per 1,000 patient-years).

In adjusted hazard ratio models, researchers adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, alcohol, smoking, history of fractures earlier than 365 days prior to study entry, hypogonadism, osteoporosis, medications, and comorbidities.

Overall, patients in the iron overload group had a 60% higher risk of an osteoporotic fracture (aHR, 1.60).

Among women, the incidence of osteoporotic fracture was 12.63 per 1,000 patient-years in the iron overload group and 7.09 per 1,000 patient-years in the control group.

Women with iron overload had a 48% higher risk of osteoporotic fracture, compared with other women (aHR, 1.48).

Among men, the incidence of osteoporotic fracture was 6.71 per 1,000 patient-years in the iron overload group and 3.01 per 1,000 patient-years in the control group.

Men with iron overload therefore had an 82% higher risk of osteoporotic fracture, compared with other men (aHR, 1.82).

Compared with patients without iron overload, patients with iron overload had an increased risk of a vertebral (aHR, 2.18), hip (aHR, 1.60), and humerus (aHR, 1.82) fracture but not a forearm fracture.

The researchers acknowledge that study limitations include they did not look at phlebotomy or changes in ferritin levels, and they excluded patients with hereditary hemochromatosis diagnosed before age 18.

The work was funded by the German Research Foundation. One of the researchers has reported receiving an independent grant from Pharmacosmos. The other researchers as well as Dr. Econs have reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Omega-3 supplements did not reduce fractures during a median 5.3-year follow-up in the more than 25,000 generally healthy men and women (≥ age 50 and ≥ age 55, respectively) in the Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial (VITAL).

The large randomized controlled trial tested whether omega-3 fatty acid or vitamin D supplements prevented cardiovascular disease or cancer in a representative sample of midlife and older adults from 50 U.S. states – which they did not. In a further analysis of VITAL, vitamin D supplements (cholecalciferol, 2,000 IU/day) did not lower the risk of incident total, nonvertebral, and hip fractures, compared with placebo.

Dmitriy Danilchenko/Shutterstock

Now this new analysis shows that omega-3 fatty acid supplements (1 g/day of fish oil) did not reduce the risk of such fractures in the VITAL population either. Meryl S. LeBoff, MD, presented the latest findings during an oral session at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

“In this, the largest randomized controlled trial in the world, we did not find an effect of omega-3 fatty acid supplements on fractures,” Dr. LeBoff, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, told this news organization.

The current analysis did “unexpectedly” show that among participants who received the omega-3 fatty acid supplements, there was an increase in fractures in men, and fracture risk was higher in people with a normal or low body mass index and lower in people with higher BMI.

However, these subgroup findings need to be interpreted with caution and may be caused by chance, Dr. LeBoff warned. The researchers will be investigating these findings in further analyses.
 

Should patients take omega-3 supplements or not?

Asked whether, in the meantime, patients should start or keep taking fish oil supplements for possible health benefits, she noted that certain individuals might benefit.

For example, in VITAL, participants who ate less than 1.5 servings of fish per week and received omega-3 fatty acid supplements had a decrease in the combined cardiovascular endpoint, and Black participants who took fish oil supplements had a substantially reduced risk of the outcome, regardless of fish intake.

“I think everybody needs to review [the study findings] with clinicians and make a decision in terms of what would be best for them,” she said.

Session comoderator Bente Langdahl, MD, PhD, commented that “many people take omega-3 because they think it will help” knee, hip, or other joint pain.

Perhaps men are more prone to joint pain because of osteoarthritis and the supplements lessen the pain, so these men became more physically active and more prone to fractures, she speculated.

The current study shows that, “so far, we haven’t been able to demonstrate a reduced rate of fractures with fish oil supplements in clinical randomized trials” conducted in relatively healthy and not the oldest patients, she summarized. “We’re not talking about 80-year-olds.”

In this “well-conducted study, they were not able to see any difference” with omega-3 fatty acid supplements versus placebo, but apparently, there are no harms associated with taking these supplements, she said.

To patients who ask her about such supplements, Dr. Langdahl advised: “Try it out for 3 months. If it really helps you, if it takes away your joint pain or whatever, then that might work for you. But then remember to stop again because it might just be a temporary effect.”
 

Could fish oil supplements protect against fractures?

An estimated 22% of U.S. adults aged 60 and older take omega-3 fatty acid supplements, Dr. LeBoff noted.

Preclinical studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids reduce bone resorption and have anti-inflammatory effects, but observational studies have reported conflicting findings.

The researchers conducted this ancillary study of VITAL to fill these knowledge gaps.

VITAL enrolled a national sample of 25,871 U.S. men and women, including 5,106 Black participants, with a mean age of 67 and a mean BMI of 28 kg/m2.

Importantly, participants were not recruited by low bone density, fractures, or vitamin D deficiency. Prior to entry, participants were required to stop taking omega-3 supplements and limit nonstudy vitamin D and calcium supplements.

The omega-3 fatty acid supplements used in the study contained eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in a 1.2:1 ratio.

VITAL had a 2x2 factorial design whereby 6,463 participants were randomized to receive the omega-3 fatty acid supplement and 6,474 were randomized to placebo. (Remaining participants were randomized to receive vitamin D or placebo.)

Participants in the omega-3 fatty acid and placebo groups had similar baseline characteristics. For example, about half (50.5%) were women, and on average, they ate 1.1 servings of dark-meat fish (such as salmon) per week.

Participants completed detailed questionnaires at baseline and each year.

Plasma omega-3 levels were measured at baseline and, in 1,583 participants, at 1 year of follow-up. The mean omega-3 index rose 54.7% in the omega-3 fatty acid group and changed less than 2% in the placebo group at 1 year.

Study pill adherence was 87.0% at 2 years and 85.7% at 5 years.

Fractures were self-reported on annual questionnaires and centrally adjudicated in medical record review.
 

No clinically meaningful effect of omega-3 fatty acids on fractures

During a median 5.3-year follow-up, researchers adjudicated 2,133 total fractures and confirmed 1,991 fractures (93%) in 1551 participants.

Incidences of total, nonvertebral, and hip fractures were similar in both groups.

Compared with placebo, omega-3 fatty acid supplements had no significant effect on risk of total fractures (hazard ratio, 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 0.92-1.13), nonvertebral fractures (HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.91-1.12), or hip fractures (HR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.61-1.30), all adjusted for age, sex, and race.

The “confidence intervals were narrow, likely excluding a clinically meaningful effect,” Dr. LeBoff noted.

Among men, those who received fish oil supplements had a greater risk of fracture than those who received placebo (HR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.07-1.51), but this result “was not corrected for multiple hypothesis testing,” Dr. LeBoff cautioned.

In the overall population, participants with a BMI less than 25 who received fish oil versus placebo had an increased risk of fracture, and those with a BMI of at least 30 who received fish oil versus placebo had a decreased risk of fracture, but the limits of the confidence intervals crossed 1.00.

After excluding digit, skull, and pathologic fractures, there was no significant reduction in total fractures (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.92-1.14), nonvertebral fractures (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.92-1.14), or hip fractures (HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.61-1.33), with omega-3 supplements versus placebo.

Similarly, there was no significant reduction in risk of major osteoporotic fractures (hip, wrist, humerus, and clinical spine fractures) or wrist fractures with omega-3 supplements versus placebo.

VITAL only studied one dose of omega-3 fatty acid supplements, and results may not be generalizable to younger adults, or older adults living in residential communities, Dr. LeBoff noted.

The study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Arthritis Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. VITAL was funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Dr. LeBoff and Dr. Langdahl have reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Omega-3 supplements did not reduce fractures during a median 5.3-year follow-up in the more than 25,000 generally healthy men and women (≥ age 50 and ≥ age 55, respectively) in the Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial (VITAL).

The large randomized controlled trial tested whether omega-3 fatty acid or vitamin D supplements prevented cardiovascular disease or cancer in a representative sample of midlife and older adults from 50 U.S. states – which they did not. In a further analysis of VITAL, vitamin D supplements (cholecalciferol, 2,000 IU/day) did not lower the risk of incident total, nonvertebral, and hip fractures, compared with placebo.

Dmitriy Danilchenko/Shutterstock

Now this new analysis shows that omega-3 fatty acid supplements (1 g/day of fish oil) did not reduce the risk of such fractures in the VITAL population either. Meryl S. LeBoff, MD, presented the latest findings during an oral session at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

“In this, the largest randomized controlled trial in the world, we did not find an effect of omega-3 fatty acid supplements on fractures,” Dr. LeBoff, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, told this news organization.

The current analysis did “unexpectedly” show that among participants who received the omega-3 fatty acid supplements, there was an increase in fractures in men, and fracture risk was higher in people with a normal or low body mass index and lower in people with higher BMI.

However, these subgroup findings need to be interpreted with caution and may be caused by chance, Dr. LeBoff warned. The researchers will be investigating these findings in further analyses.
 

Should patients take omega-3 supplements or not?

Asked whether, in the meantime, patients should start or keep taking fish oil supplements for possible health benefits, she noted that certain individuals might benefit.

For example, in VITAL, participants who ate less than 1.5 servings of fish per week and received omega-3 fatty acid supplements had a decrease in the combined cardiovascular endpoint, and Black participants who took fish oil supplements had a substantially reduced risk of the outcome, regardless of fish intake.

“I think everybody needs to review [the study findings] with clinicians and make a decision in terms of what would be best for them,” she said.

Session comoderator Bente Langdahl, MD, PhD, commented that “many people take omega-3 because they think it will help” knee, hip, or other joint pain.

Perhaps men are more prone to joint pain because of osteoarthritis and the supplements lessen the pain, so these men became more physically active and more prone to fractures, she speculated.

The current study shows that, “so far, we haven’t been able to demonstrate a reduced rate of fractures with fish oil supplements in clinical randomized trials” conducted in relatively healthy and not the oldest patients, she summarized. “We’re not talking about 80-year-olds.”

In this “well-conducted study, they were not able to see any difference” with omega-3 fatty acid supplements versus placebo, but apparently, there are no harms associated with taking these supplements, she said.

To patients who ask her about such supplements, Dr. Langdahl advised: “Try it out for 3 months. If it really helps you, if it takes away your joint pain or whatever, then that might work for you. But then remember to stop again because it might just be a temporary effect.”
 

Could fish oil supplements protect against fractures?

An estimated 22% of U.S. adults aged 60 and older take omega-3 fatty acid supplements, Dr. LeBoff noted.

Preclinical studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids reduce bone resorption and have anti-inflammatory effects, but observational studies have reported conflicting findings.

The researchers conducted this ancillary study of VITAL to fill these knowledge gaps.

VITAL enrolled a national sample of 25,871 U.S. men and women, including 5,106 Black participants, with a mean age of 67 and a mean BMI of 28 kg/m2.

Importantly, participants were not recruited by low bone density, fractures, or vitamin D deficiency. Prior to entry, participants were required to stop taking omega-3 supplements and limit nonstudy vitamin D and calcium supplements.

The omega-3 fatty acid supplements used in the study contained eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in a 1.2:1 ratio.

VITAL had a 2x2 factorial design whereby 6,463 participants were randomized to receive the omega-3 fatty acid supplement and 6,474 were randomized to placebo. (Remaining participants were randomized to receive vitamin D or placebo.)

Participants in the omega-3 fatty acid and placebo groups had similar baseline characteristics. For example, about half (50.5%) were women, and on average, they ate 1.1 servings of dark-meat fish (such as salmon) per week.

Participants completed detailed questionnaires at baseline and each year.

Plasma omega-3 levels were measured at baseline and, in 1,583 participants, at 1 year of follow-up. The mean omega-3 index rose 54.7% in the omega-3 fatty acid group and changed less than 2% in the placebo group at 1 year.

Study pill adherence was 87.0% at 2 years and 85.7% at 5 years.

Fractures were self-reported on annual questionnaires and centrally adjudicated in medical record review.
 

No clinically meaningful effect of omega-3 fatty acids on fractures

During a median 5.3-year follow-up, researchers adjudicated 2,133 total fractures and confirmed 1,991 fractures (93%) in 1551 participants.

Incidences of total, nonvertebral, and hip fractures were similar in both groups.

Compared with placebo, omega-3 fatty acid supplements had no significant effect on risk of total fractures (hazard ratio, 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 0.92-1.13), nonvertebral fractures (HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.91-1.12), or hip fractures (HR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.61-1.30), all adjusted for age, sex, and race.

The “confidence intervals were narrow, likely excluding a clinically meaningful effect,” Dr. LeBoff noted.

Among men, those who received fish oil supplements had a greater risk of fracture than those who received placebo (HR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.07-1.51), but this result “was not corrected for multiple hypothesis testing,” Dr. LeBoff cautioned.

In the overall population, participants with a BMI less than 25 who received fish oil versus placebo had an increased risk of fracture, and those with a BMI of at least 30 who received fish oil versus placebo had a decreased risk of fracture, but the limits of the confidence intervals crossed 1.00.

After excluding digit, skull, and pathologic fractures, there was no significant reduction in total fractures (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.92-1.14), nonvertebral fractures (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.92-1.14), or hip fractures (HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.61-1.33), with omega-3 supplements versus placebo.

Similarly, there was no significant reduction in risk of major osteoporotic fractures (hip, wrist, humerus, and clinical spine fractures) or wrist fractures with omega-3 supplements versus placebo.

VITAL only studied one dose of omega-3 fatty acid supplements, and results may not be generalizable to younger adults, or older adults living in residential communities, Dr. LeBoff noted.

The study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Arthritis Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. VITAL was funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Dr. LeBoff and Dr. Langdahl have reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Omega-3 supplements did not reduce fractures during a median 5.3-year follow-up in the more than 25,000 generally healthy men and women (≥ age 50 and ≥ age 55, respectively) in the Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial (VITAL).

The large randomized controlled trial tested whether omega-3 fatty acid or vitamin D supplements prevented cardiovascular disease or cancer in a representative sample of midlife and older adults from 50 U.S. states – which they did not. In a further analysis of VITAL, vitamin D supplements (cholecalciferol, 2,000 IU/day) did not lower the risk of incident total, nonvertebral, and hip fractures, compared with placebo.

Dmitriy Danilchenko/Shutterstock

Now this new analysis shows that omega-3 fatty acid supplements (1 g/day of fish oil) did not reduce the risk of such fractures in the VITAL population either. Meryl S. LeBoff, MD, presented the latest findings during an oral session at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

“In this, the largest randomized controlled trial in the world, we did not find an effect of omega-3 fatty acid supplements on fractures,” Dr. LeBoff, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, told this news organization.

The current analysis did “unexpectedly” show that among participants who received the omega-3 fatty acid supplements, there was an increase in fractures in men, and fracture risk was higher in people with a normal or low body mass index and lower in people with higher BMI.

However, these subgroup findings need to be interpreted with caution and may be caused by chance, Dr. LeBoff warned. The researchers will be investigating these findings in further analyses.
 

Should patients take omega-3 supplements or not?

Asked whether, in the meantime, patients should start or keep taking fish oil supplements for possible health benefits, she noted that certain individuals might benefit.

For example, in VITAL, participants who ate less than 1.5 servings of fish per week and received omega-3 fatty acid supplements had a decrease in the combined cardiovascular endpoint, and Black participants who took fish oil supplements had a substantially reduced risk of the outcome, regardless of fish intake.

“I think everybody needs to review [the study findings] with clinicians and make a decision in terms of what would be best for them,” she said.

Session comoderator Bente Langdahl, MD, PhD, commented that “many people take omega-3 because they think it will help” knee, hip, or other joint pain.

Perhaps men are more prone to joint pain because of osteoarthritis and the supplements lessen the pain, so these men became more physically active and more prone to fractures, she speculated.

The current study shows that, “so far, we haven’t been able to demonstrate a reduced rate of fractures with fish oil supplements in clinical randomized trials” conducted in relatively healthy and not the oldest patients, she summarized. “We’re not talking about 80-year-olds.”

In this “well-conducted study, they were not able to see any difference” with omega-3 fatty acid supplements versus placebo, but apparently, there are no harms associated with taking these supplements, she said.

To patients who ask her about such supplements, Dr. Langdahl advised: “Try it out for 3 months. If it really helps you, if it takes away your joint pain or whatever, then that might work for you. But then remember to stop again because it might just be a temporary effect.”
 

Could fish oil supplements protect against fractures?

An estimated 22% of U.S. adults aged 60 and older take omega-3 fatty acid supplements, Dr. LeBoff noted.

Preclinical studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids reduce bone resorption and have anti-inflammatory effects, but observational studies have reported conflicting findings.

The researchers conducted this ancillary study of VITAL to fill these knowledge gaps.

VITAL enrolled a national sample of 25,871 U.S. men and women, including 5,106 Black participants, with a mean age of 67 and a mean BMI of 28 kg/m2.

Importantly, participants were not recruited by low bone density, fractures, or vitamin D deficiency. Prior to entry, participants were required to stop taking omega-3 supplements and limit nonstudy vitamin D and calcium supplements.

The omega-3 fatty acid supplements used in the study contained eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in a 1.2:1 ratio.

VITAL had a 2x2 factorial design whereby 6,463 participants were randomized to receive the omega-3 fatty acid supplement and 6,474 were randomized to placebo. (Remaining participants were randomized to receive vitamin D or placebo.)

Participants in the omega-3 fatty acid and placebo groups had similar baseline characteristics. For example, about half (50.5%) were women, and on average, they ate 1.1 servings of dark-meat fish (such as salmon) per week.

Participants completed detailed questionnaires at baseline and each year.

Plasma omega-3 levels were measured at baseline and, in 1,583 participants, at 1 year of follow-up. The mean omega-3 index rose 54.7% in the omega-3 fatty acid group and changed less than 2% in the placebo group at 1 year.

Study pill adherence was 87.0% at 2 years and 85.7% at 5 years.

Fractures were self-reported on annual questionnaires and centrally adjudicated in medical record review.
 

No clinically meaningful effect of omega-3 fatty acids on fractures

During a median 5.3-year follow-up, researchers adjudicated 2,133 total fractures and confirmed 1,991 fractures (93%) in 1551 participants.

Incidences of total, nonvertebral, and hip fractures were similar in both groups.

Compared with placebo, omega-3 fatty acid supplements had no significant effect on risk of total fractures (hazard ratio, 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 0.92-1.13), nonvertebral fractures (HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.91-1.12), or hip fractures (HR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.61-1.30), all adjusted for age, sex, and race.

The “confidence intervals were narrow, likely excluding a clinically meaningful effect,” Dr. LeBoff noted.

Among men, those who received fish oil supplements had a greater risk of fracture than those who received placebo (HR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.07-1.51), but this result “was not corrected for multiple hypothesis testing,” Dr. LeBoff cautioned.

In the overall population, participants with a BMI less than 25 who received fish oil versus placebo had an increased risk of fracture, and those with a BMI of at least 30 who received fish oil versus placebo had a decreased risk of fracture, but the limits of the confidence intervals crossed 1.00.

After excluding digit, skull, and pathologic fractures, there was no significant reduction in total fractures (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.92-1.14), nonvertebral fractures (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.92-1.14), or hip fractures (HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.61-1.33), with omega-3 supplements versus placebo.

Similarly, there was no significant reduction in risk of major osteoporotic fractures (hip, wrist, humerus, and clinical spine fractures) or wrist fractures with omega-3 supplements versus placebo.

VITAL only studied one dose of omega-3 fatty acid supplements, and results may not be generalizable to younger adults, or older adults living in residential communities, Dr. LeBoff noted.

The study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Arthritis Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. VITAL was funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Dr. LeBoff and Dr. Langdahl have reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The annual incidence of hip fractures declined in most countries from 2005 to 2018, but this rate is projected to roughly double by 2050, according to a new study of 19 countries/regions.

The study by Chor-Wing Sing, PhD, and colleagues was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research. The predicted increase in hip fractures is being driven by the aging population, with the population of those age 85 and older projected to increase 4.5-fold from 2010 to 2050, they note.

The researchers also estimate that from 2018 to 2050 the incidence of fractures will increase by 1.9-fold overall – more in men (2.4-fold) than in women (1.7-fold).

In addition, rates of use of osteoporosis drugs 1 year after a hip fracture were less than 50%, with less treatment in men. Men were also more likely than women to die within 1 year of a hip fracture.

iStock/Thinkstock

Aging will fuel rise in hip fractures; more preventive treatment needed

“Even though there is a decreasing trend of hip fracture incidence in some countries, such a percentage decrease is insufficient to offset the percentage increase in the aging population,” senior co-author Ching-Lung Cheung, PhD, associate professor in the department of pharmacology and pharmacy at the University of Hong Kong, explained to this news organization.

The takeaways from the study are that “a greater effort on fracture prevention should be made to avoid the continuous increase in the number of hip fractures,” he said.

In addition, “although initiation of anti-osteoporosis medication after hip fracture is recommended in international guidelines, the 1-year treatment rate [was] well below 50% in most of the countries and regions studied. This indicates the treatment rate is far from optimal.”

“Our study also showed that the use of anti-osteoporosis medications following a hip fracture is lower in men than in women by 30% to 67%,” he said. “Thus, more attention should be paid to preventing and treating hip fractures in men.”

“The greater increase in the projected number of hip fractures in men than in women “could be [because] osteoporosis is commonly perceived as a ‘woman’s disease,’ ” he speculated.

Invited to comment, Juliet Compston, MD, who selected the study as one of the top clinical science highlight abstracts at the ASBMR meeting, agrees that “there is substantial room for improvement” in osteoporosis treatment rates following a hip fracture “in all the regions covered by the study.”

“In addition,” she continues, “the wide variations in treatment rates can provide important lessons about the most effective models of care for people who sustain a hip fracture: for example, fracture liaison services.”

Men suffer as osteoporosis perceived to be a ‘woman’s disease’

The even lower treatment rate in men than women is “concerning and likely reflects the mistaken perception that osteoporosis is predominantly a disease affecting women,” notes Dr. Compston, emeritus professor of bone medicine, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.  

Also invited to comment, Peter R. Ebeling, MD, outgoing president of the ASBMR, said that the projected doubling of hip fractures “is likely mainly due to aging of the population, with increasing lifespan for males in particular. However, increasing urbanization and decreasing weight-bearing exercise as a result are likely to also contribute in developing countries.”

“Unfortunately, despite the advances in treatments for osteoporosis over the last 25 years, osteoporosis treatment rates remain low, and osteoporosis remains undiagnosed in postmenopausal women and older men,” added Dr. Ebeling, from Monash University, Melbourne, who was not involved with the research.

“More targeted screening for osteoporosis would help,” he said, “as would treating patients for it following other minimal trauma fractures (vertebral, distal radius, and humerus, etc.), since if left untreated, about 50% of these patients will have hip fractures later in life.”

“Some countries may be doing better because they have health quality standards for hip fracture (for example, surgery within 24 hours, investigation, and treatment for osteoporosis). In other countries like Australia, bone density tests and treatment for osteoporosis are reimbursed, increasing their uptake.”

The public health implications of this study are “substantial” according to Dr. Compston. “People who have sustained a hip fracture are at high risk of subsequent fractures if untreated. There is a range of safe, cost-effective pharmacological therapies to reduce fracture rate, and wider use of these would have a major impact on the current and future burden imposed by hip fractures in the elderly population.”

Similarly, Dr. Ebeling noted that “prevention is important to save a huge health burden for patients and costs for society.”

“Patients with minimal trauma fractures (particularly hip or spinal fractures) should be investigated and treated for osteoporosis with care pathways established in the hospitals, reaching out to the community [fracture liaison services],” he said.

Support for these is being sought under Medicare in the United States, he noted, and bone densitometry reimbursement rates also need to be higher in the United States.
 

Projections for number of hip fractures to 2050

Previous international reviews of hip fractures have been based on heterogeneous data from more than 10 to 30 years ago, the researchers note.

They performed a retrospective cohort study using a common protocol across 19 countries/regions, as described in an article about the protocol published in BMJ Open.

They analyzed data from adults aged 50 and older who were hospitalized with a hip fracture to determine 1) the annual incidence of hip fractures in 2008-2015; 2) the uptake of drugs to treat osteoporosis at 1 year after a hip fracture; and 3) all-cause mortality at 1 year after a hip fracture.

In a second step, they estimated the number of hip fractures that would occur from 2030 to 2050, using World Bank population growth projections.

The data are from 20 health care databases from 19 countries/regions: Oceania (Australia, New Zealand), Asia (Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand), Northern Europe (Denmark, Finland, and U.K.), Western Europe (France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, and Spain), and North and South America (Canada, United States, and Brazil).

The population in Japan was under age 75. U.S. data are from two databases: Medicare (age ≥ 65) and Optum.

Most databases (13) covered 90%-100% of the national population, and the rest covered 5%-70% of the population.

From 2008 to 2015, the annual incidence of hip fractures declined in 11 countries/regions (Singapore, Denmark, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Finland, U.K., Italy, Spain, United States [Medicare], Canada, and New Zealand).

“One potential reason that some countries have seen relatively large declines in hip fractures is better osteoporosis management and post-fracture care,” said Dr. Sing in a press release issued by ASBMR. “Better fall-prevention programs and clearer guidelines for clinical care have likely made a difference.”

Hip fracture incidence increased in five countries (The Netherlands, South Korea, France, Germany, and Brazil) and was stable in four countries (Australia, Japan, Thailand, and United States [Optum]).

The United Kingdom had the highest rate of osteoporosis treatment at 1-year after a hip fracture (50.3%). Rates in the other countries/regions ranged from 11.5% to 37%.

Fewer men than women were receiving drugs for osteoporosis at 1 year (range 5.1% to 38.2% versus 15.0% to 54.7%).

From 2005 to 2018, rates of osteoporosis treatment at 1 year after a hip fracture declined in six countries, increased in four countries, and were stable in five countries.

All-cause mortality within 1 year of hip fracture was higher in men than in women (range 19.2% to 35.8% versus 12.1% to 25.4%).

“Among the studied countries and regions, the U.S. ranks fifth with the highest hip fracture incidence,” Dr. Cheung replied when specifically asked about this. “The risk of hip fracture is determined by multiple factors: for example, lifestyle, diet, genetics, as well as management of osteoporosis,” he noted.

“Denmark is the only country showing no projected increase, and it is because Denmark had a continuous and remarkable decrease in the incidence of hip fractures,” he added, which “can offset the number of hip fractures contributed by the population aging.”

The study was funded by Amgen. Dr. Sing and Dr. Cheung have reported no relevant financial relationships. One of the study authors is employed by Amgen.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The annual incidence of hip fractures declined in most countries from 2005 to 2018, but this rate is projected to roughly double by 2050, according to a new study of 19 countries/regions.

The study by Chor-Wing Sing, PhD, and colleagues was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research. The predicted increase in hip fractures is being driven by the aging population, with the population of those age 85 and older projected to increase 4.5-fold from 2010 to 2050, they note.

The researchers also estimate that from 2018 to 2050 the incidence of fractures will increase by 1.9-fold overall – more in men (2.4-fold) than in women (1.7-fold).

In addition, rates of use of osteoporosis drugs 1 year after a hip fracture were less than 50%, with less treatment in men. Men were also more likely than women to die within 1 year of a hip fracture.

iStock/Thinkstock

Aging will fuel rise in hip fractures; more preventive treatment needed

“Even though there is a decreasing trend of hip fracture incidence in some countries, such a percentage decrease is insufficient to offset the percentage increase in the aging population,” senior co-author Ching-Lung Cheung, PhD, associate professor in the department of pharmacology and pharmacy at the University of Hong Kong, explained to this news organization.

The takeaways from the study are that “a greater effort on fracture prevention should be made to avoid the continuous increase in the number of hip fractures,” he said.

In addition, “although initiation of anti-osteoporosis medication after hip fracture is recommended in international guidelines, the 1-year treatment rate [was] well below 50% in most of the countries and regions studied. This indicates the treatment rate is far from optimal.”

“Our study also showed that the use of anti-osteoporosis medications following a hip fracture is lower in men than in women by 30% to 67%,” he said. “Thus, more attention should be paid to preventing and treating hip fractures in men.”

“The greater increase in the projected number of hip fractures in men than in women “could be [because] osteoporosis is commonly perceived as a ‘woman’s disease,’ ” he speculated.

Invited to comment, Juliet Compston, MD, who selected the study as one of the top clinical science highlight abstracts at the ASBMR meeting, agrees that “there is substantial room for improvement” in osteoporosis treatment rates following a hip fracture “in all the regions covered by the study.”

“In addition,” she continues, “the wide variations in treatment rates can provide important lessons about the most effective models of care for people who sustain a hip fracture: for example, fracture liaison services.”

Men suffer as osteoporosis perceived to be a ‘woman’s disease’

The even lower treatment rate in men than women is “concerning and likely reflects the mistaken perception that osteoporosis is predominantly a disease affecting women,” notes Dr. Compston, emeritus professor of bone medicine, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.  

Also invited to comment, Peter R. Ebeling, MD, outgoing president of the ASBMR, said that the projected doubling of hip fractures “is likely mainly due to aging of the population, with increasing lifespan for males in particular. However, increasing urbanization and decreasing weight-bearing exercise as a result are likely to also contribute in developing countries.”

“Unfortunately, despite the advances in treatments for osteoporosis over the last 25 years, osteoporosis treatment rates remain low, and osteoporosis remains undiagnosed in postmenopausal women and older men,” added Dr. Ebeling, from Monash University, Melbourne, who was not involved with the research.

“More targeted screening for osteoporosis would help,” he said, “as would treating patients for it following other minimal trauma fractures (vertebral, distal radius, and humerus, etc.), since if left untreated, about 50% of these patients will have hip fractures later in life.”

“Some countries may be doing better because they have health quality standards for hip fracture (for example, surgery within 24 hours, investigation, and treatment for osteoporosis). In other countries like Australia, bone density tests and treatment for osteoporosis are reimbursed, increasing their uptake.”

The public health implications of this study are “substantial” according to Dr. Compston. “People who have sustained a hip fracture are at high risk of subsequent fractures if untreated. There is a range of safe, cost-effective pharmacological therapies to reduce fracture rate, and wider use of these would have a major impact on the current and future burden imposed by hip fractures in the elderly population.”

Similarly, Dr. Ebeling noted that “prevention is important to save a huge health burden for patients and costs for society.”

“Patients with minimal trauma fractures (particularly hip or spinal fractures) should be investigated and treated for osteoporosis with care pathways established in the hospitals, reaching out to the community [fracture liaison services],” he said.

Support for these is being sought under Medicare in the United States, he noted, and bone densitometry reimbursement rates also need to be higher in the United States.
 

Projections for number of hip fractures to 2050

Previous international reviews of hip fractures have been based on heterogeneous data from more than 10 to 30 years ago, the researchers note.

They performed a retrospective cohort study using a common protocol across 19 countries/regions, as described in an article about the protocol published in BMJ Open.

They analyzed data from adults aged 50 and older who were hospitalized with a hip fracture to determine 1) the annual incidence of hip fractures in 2008-2015; 2) the uptake of drugs to treat osteoporosis at 1 year after a hip fracture; and 3) all-cause mortality at 1 year after a hip fracture.

In a second step, they estimated the number of hip fractures that would occur from 2030 to 2050, using World Bank population growth projections.

The data are from 20 health care databases from 19 countries/regions: Oceania (Australia, New Zealand), Asia (Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand), Northern Europe (Denmark, Finland, and U.K.), Western Europe (France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, and Spain), and North and South America (Canada, United States, and Brazil).

The population in Japan was under age 75. U.S. data are from two databases: Medicare (age ≥ 65) and Optum.

Most databases (13) covered 90%-100% of the national population, and the rest covered 5%-70% of the population.

From 2008 to 2015, the annual incidence of hip fractures declined in 11 countries/regions (Singapore, Denmark, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Finland, U.K., Italy, Spain, United States [Medicare], Canada, and New Zealand).

“One potential reason that some countries have seen relatively large declines in hip fractures is better osteoporosis management and post-fracture care,” said Dr. Sing in a press release issued by ASBMR. “Better fall-prevention programs and clearer guidelines for clinical care have likely made a difference.”

Hip fracture incidence increased in five countries (The Netherlands, South Korea, France, Germany, and Brazil) and was stable in four countries (Australia, Japan, Thailand, and United States [Optum]).

The United Kingdom had the highest rate of osteoporosis treatment at 1-year after a hip fracture (50.3%). Rates in the other countries/regions ranged from 11.5% to 37%.

Fewer men than women were receiving drugs for osteoporosis at 1 year (range 5.1% to 38.2% versus 15.0% to 54.7%).

From 2005 to 2018, rates of osteoporosis treatment at 1 year after a hip fracture declined in six countries, increased in four countries, and were stable in five countries.

All-cause mortality within 1 year of hip fracture was higher in men than in women (range 19.2% to 35.8% versus 12.1% to 25.4%).

“Among the studied countries and regions, the U.S. ranks fifth with the highest hip fracture incidence,” Dr. Cheung replied when specifically asked about this. “The risk of hip fracture is determined by multiple factors: for example, lifestyle, diet, genetics, as well as management of osteoporosis,” he noted.

“Denmark is the only country showing no projected increase, and it is because Denmark had a continuous and remarkable decrease in the incidence of hip fractures,” he added, which “can offset the number of hip fractures contributed by the population aging.”

The study was funded by Amgen. Dr. Sing and Dr. Cheung have reported no relevant financial relationships. One of the study authors is employed by Amgen.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The annual incidence of hip fractures declined in most countries from 2005 to 2018, but this rate is projected to roughly double by 2050, according to a new study of 19 countries/regions.

The study by Chor-Wing Sing, PhD, and colleagues was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research. The predicted increase in hip fractures is being driven by the aging population, with the population of those age 85 and older projected to increase 4.5-fold from 2010 to 2050, they note.

The researchers also estimate that from 2018 to 2050 the incidence of fractures will increase by 1.9-fold overall – more in men (2.4-fold) than in women (1.7-fold).

In addition, rates of use of osteoporosis drugs 1 year after a hip fracture were less than 50%, with less treatment in men. Men were also more likely than women to die within 1 year of a hip fracture.

iStock/Thinkstock

Aging will fuel rise in hip fractures; more preventive treatment needed

“Even though there is a decreasing trend of hip fracture incidence in some countries, such a percentage decrease is insufficient to offset the percentage increase in the aging population,” senior co-author Ching-Lung Cheung, PhD, associate professor in the department of pharmacology and pharmacy at the University of Hong Kong, explained to this news organization.

The takeaways from the study are that “a greater effort on fracture prevention should be made to avoid the continuous increase in the number of hip fractures,” he said.

In addition, “although initiation of anti-osteoporosis medication after hip fracture is recommended in international guidelines, the 1-year treatment rate [was] well below 50% in most of the countries and regions studied. This indicates the treatment rate is far from optimal.”

“Our study also showed that the use of anti-osteoporosis medications following a hip fracture is lower in men than in women by 30% to 67%,” he said. “Thus, more attention should be paid to preventing and treating hip fractures in men.”

“The greater increase in the projected number of hip fractures in men than in women “could be [because] osteoporosis is commonly perceived as a ‘woman’s disease,’ ” he speculated.

Invited to comment, Juliet Compston, MD, who selected the study as one of the top clinical science highlight abstracts at the ASBMR meeting, agrees that “there is substantial room for improvement” in osteoporosis treatment rates following a hip fracture “in all the regions covered by the study.”

“In addition,” she continues, “the wide variations in treatment rates can provide important lessons about the most effective models of care for people who sustain a hip fracture: for example, fracture liaison services.”

Men suffer as osteoporosis perceived to be a ‘woman’s disease’

The even lower treatment rate in men than women is “concerning and likely reflects the mistaken perception that osteoporosis is predominantly a disease affecting women,” notes Dr. Compston, emeritus professor of bone medicine, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.  

Also invited to comment, Peter R. Ebeling, MD, outgoing president of the ASBMR, said that the projected doubling of hip fractures “is likely mainly due to aging of the population, with increasing lifespan for males in particular. However, increasing urbanization and decreasing weight-bearing exercise as a result are likely to also contribute in developing countries.”

“Unfortunately, despite the advances in treatments for osteoporosis over the last 25 years, osteoporosis treatment rates remain low, and osteoporosis remains undiagnosed in postmenopausal women and older men,” added Dr. Ebeling, from Monash University, Melbourne, who was not involved with the research.

“More targeted screening for osteoporosis would help,” he said, “as would treating patients for it following other minimal trauma fractures (vertebral, distal radius, and humerus, etc.), since if left untreated, about 50% of these patients will have hip fractures later in life.”

“Some countries may be doing better because they have health quality standards for hip fracture (for example, surgery within 24 hours, investigation, and treatment for osteoporosis). In other countries like Australia, bone density tests and treatment for osteoporosis are reimbursed, increasing their uptake.”

The public health implications of this study are “substantial” according to Dr. Compston. “People who have sustained a hip fracture are at high risk of subsequent fractures if untreated. There is a range of safe, cost-effective pharmacological therapies to reduce fracture rate, and wider use of these would have a major impact on the current and future burden imposed by hip fractures in the elderly population.”

Similarly, Dr. Ebeling noted that “prevention is important to save a huge health burden for patients and costs for society.”

“Patients with minimal trauma fractures (particularly hip or spinal fractures) should be investigated and treated for osteoporosis with care pathways established in the hospitals, reaching out to the community [fracture liaison services],” he said.

Support for these is being sought under Medicare in the United States, he noted, and bone densitometry reimbursement rates also need to be higher in the United States.
 

Projections for number of hip fractures to 2050

Previous international reviews of hip fractures have been based on heterogeneous data from more than 10 to 30 years ago, the researchers note.

They performed a retrospective cohort study using a common protocol across 19 countries/regions, as described in an article about the protocol published in BMJ Open.

They analyzed data from adults aged 50 and older who were hospitalized with a hip fracture to determine 1) the annual incidence of hip fractures in 2008-2015; 2) the uptake of drugs to treat osteoporosis at 1 year after a hip fracture; and 3) all-cause mortality at 1 year after a hip fracture.

In a second step, they estimated the number of hip fractures that would occur from 2030 to 2050, using World Bank population growth projections.

The data are from 20 health care databases from 19 countries/regions: Oceania (Australia, New Zealand), Asia (Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand), Northern Europe (Denmark, Finland, and U.K.), Western Europe (France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, and Spain), and North and South America (Canada, United States, and Brazil).

The population in Japan was under age 75. U.S. data are from two databases: Medicare (age ≥ 65) and Optum.

Most databases (13) covered 90%-100% of the national population, and the rest covered 5%-70% of the population.

From 2008 to 2015, the annual incidence of hip fractures declined in 11 countries/regions (Singapore, Denmark, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Finland, U.K., Italy, Spain, United States [Medicare], Canada, and New Zealand).

“One potential reason that some countries have seen relatively large declines in hip fractures is better osteoporosis management and post-fracture care,” said Dr. Sing in a press release issued by ASBMR. “Better fall-prevention programs and clearer guidelines for clinical care have likely made a difference.”

Hip fracture incidence increased in five countries (The Netherlands, South Korea, France, Germany, and Brazil) and was stable in four countries (Australia, Japan, Thailand, and United States [Optum]).

The United Kingdom had the highest rate of osteoporosis treatment at 1-year after a hip fracture (50.3%). Rates in the other countries/regions ranged from 11.5% to 37%.

Fewer men than women were receiving drugs for osteoporosis at 1 year (range 5.1% to 38.2% versus 15.0% to 54.7%).

From 2005 to 2018, rates of osteoporosis treatment at 1 year after a hip fracture declined in six countries, increased in four countries, and were stable in five countries.

All-cause mortality within 1 year of hip fracture was higher in men than in women (range 19.2% to 35.8% versus 12.1% to 25.4%).

“Among the studied countries and regions, the U.S. ranks fifth with the highest hip fracture incidence,” Dr. Cheung replied when specifically asked about this. “The risk of hip fracture is determined by multiple factors: for example, lifestyle, diet, genetics, as well as management of osteoporosis,” he noted.

“Denmark is the only country showing no projected increase, and it is because Denmark had a continuous and remarkable decrease in the incidence of hip fractures,” he added, which “can offset the number of hip fractures contributed by the population aging.”

The study was funded by Amgen. Dr. Sing and Dr. Cheung have reported no relevant financial relationships. One of the study authors is employed by Amgen.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Crystal Bone (Amgen) novel algorithm predicted 2-year risk of osteoporotic fractures in a large dataset with an accuracy that was consistent with FRAX 10-year risk predictions, researchers report.  

The algorithm was built using machine learning and artificial intelligence to predict fracture risk based on International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes, as described in an article published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

The current validation study was presented September 9 as a poster at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

The scientists validated the algorithm in more than 100,000 patients aged 50 and older (that is, at risk of fracture) who were part of the Reliant Medical Group dataset (a subset of Optum Care).

Importantly, the algorithm predicted increased fracture in many patients who did not have a diagnosis of osteoporosis.

The next steps are validation in other datasets to support the generalizability of Crystal Bone across U.S. health care systems, Elinor Mody, MD, Reliant Medical Group, and colleagues report.

“Implementation research, in which patients identified by Crystal Bone undergo a bone health assessment and receive ongoing management, will help inform the clinical utility of this novel algorithm,” they conclude.

At the poster session, Tina Kelley, Optum Life Sciences, explained: “It’s a screening tool that says: ‘These are your patients that maybe you should spend a little extra time with, ask a few extra questions.’ ”

However, further study is needed before it should be used in clinical practice, she emphasized to this news organization.

‘A very useful advance’ but needs further validation

Invited to comment, Peter R. Ebeling, MD, outgoing president of the ASBMR, noted that “many clinicians now use FRAX to calculate absolute fracture risk and select patients who should initiate anti-osteoporosis drugs.”

With FRAX, clinicians input a patient’s age, sex, weight, height, previous fracture, [history of] parent with fractured hip, current smoking status, glucocorticoids, rheumatoid arthritis, secondary osteoporosis, alcohol (3 units/day or more), and bone mineral density (by DXA at the femoral neck) into the tool, to obtain a 10-year probability of fracture.

“Crystal Bone takes a different approach,” Dr. Ebeling, from Monash University, Melbourne, who was not involved with the research but who disclosed receiving funding from Amgen, told this news organization in an email.

The algorithm uses electronic health records (EHRs) to identify patients who are likely to have a fracture within the next 2 years, he explained, based on diagnoses and medications associated with osteoporosis and fractures. These include ICD-10 codes for fractures at various sites and secondary causes of osteoporosis (such as rheumatoid and other inflammatory arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, celiac disease, and inflammatory bowel disease).

“This is a very useful advance,” Dr. Ebeling summarized, “in that it would alert the clinician to patients in their practice who have a high fracture risk and need to be investigated for osteoporosis and initiated on treatment. Otherwise, the patients would be missed, as currently often occurs.”

“It would need to be adaptable to other [EMR] systems and to be validated in a large separate population to be ready to enter clinical practice,” he said, “but these data look very promising with a good [positive predictive value (PPV)].”

Similarly, Juliet Compston, MD, said: “It provides a novel, fully automated approach to population-based screening for osteoporosis using EHRs to identify people at high imminent risk of fracture.”

Dr. Compston, emeritus professor of bone medicine, University of Cambridge, England, who was not involved with the research but who also disclosed being a consultant for Amgen, selected the study as one of the top clinical science highlights abstracts at the meeting.

“The algorithm looks at ICD codes for previous history of fracture, medications that have adverse effects on bone – for example glucocorticoids, aromatase inhibitors, and anti-androgens – as well as chronic diseases that increase the risk of fracture,” she explained.

“FRAX is the most commonly used tool to estimate fracture probability in clinical practice and to guide treatment decisions,” she noted. However, “currently it requires human input of data into the FRAX website and is generally only performed on individuals who are selected on the basis of clinical risk factors.”

“The Crystal Bone algorithm offers the potential for fully automated population-based screening in older adults to identify those at high risk of fracture, for whom effective therapies are available to reduce fracture risk,” she summarized.

“It needs further validation,” she noted, “and implementation into clinical practice requires the availability of high-quality EHRs.”
 

Algorithm validated in 106,328 patients aged 50 and older

Despite guidelines that recommend screening for osteoporosis in women aged 65 and older, men older than 70, and adults aged 50-79 with risk factors, real-world data suggest such screening is low, the researchers note.

The current validation study identified 106,328 patients aged 50 and older who had at least 2 years of consecutive medical history with the Reliant Medical Group from December 2014 to November 2020 as well as at least two EHR codes.

The accuracy of predicting a fracture within 2 years, expressed as area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC), was 0.77, where 1 is perfect, 0.5 is no better than random selection, 0.7 to 0.8 is acceptable, and 0.8 to 0.9 indicates excellent predictive accuracy.

In the entire Optum Reliant population older than 50, the risk of fracture within 2 years was 1.95%.

The algorithm identified four groups with a greater risk: 19,100 patients had a threefold higher risk of fracture within 2 years, 9,246 patients had a fourfold higher risk, 3,533 patients had a sevenfold higher risk, and 1,735 patients had a ninefold higher risk.

Many of these patients had no prior diagnosis of osteoporosis

For example, in the 19,100 patients with a threefold greater risk of fracture in 2 years, 69% of patients had not been diagnosed with osteoporosis (49% of them had no history of fracture and 20% did have a history of fracture).

The algorithm had a positive predictive value of 6%-18%, a negative predictive value of 98%-99%, a specificity of 81%-98%, and a sensitivity of 18%-59%, for the four groups.

The study was funded by Amgen. Dr. Mody and another author are Reliant Medical Group employees. Ms. Kelley and another author are Optum Life Sciences employees. One author is an employee at Landing AI. Two authors are Amgen employees and own Amgen stock. Dr. Ebeling has disclosed receiving research funding from Amgen, Sanofi, and Alexion, and his institution has received honoraria from Amgen and Kyowa Kirin. Dr. Compston has disclosed receiving speaking and consultancy fees from Amgen and UCB.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Crystal Bone (Amgen) novel algorithm predicted 2-year risk of osteoporotic fractures in a large dataset with an accuracy that was consistent with FRAX 10-year risk predictions, researchers report.  

The algorithm was built using machine learning and artificial intelligence to predict fracture risk based on International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes, as described in an article published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

The current validation study was presented September 9 as a poster at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

The scientists validated the algorithm in more than 100,000 patients aged 50 and older (that is, at risk of fracture) who were part of the Reliant Medical Group dataset (a subset of Optum Care).

Importantly, the algorithm predicted increased fracture in many patients who did not have a diagnosis of osteoporosis.

The next steps are validation in other datasets to support the generalizability of Crystal Bone across U.S. health care systems, Elinor Mody, MD, Reliant Medical Group, and colleagues report.

“Implementation research, in which patients identified by Crystal Bone undergo a bone health assessment and receive ongoing management, will help inform the clinical utility of this novel algorithm,” they conclude.

At the poster session, Tina Kelley, Optum Life Sciences, explained: “It’s a screening tool that says: ‘These are your patients that maybe you should spend a little extra time with, ask a few extra questions.’ ”

However, further study is needed before it should be used in clinical practice, she emphasized to this news organization.

‘A very useful advance’ but needs further validation

Invited to comment, Peter R. Ebeling, MD, outgoing president of the ASBMR, noted that “many clinicians now use FRAX to calculate absolute fracture risk and select patients who should initiate anti-osteoporosis drugs.”

With FRAX, clinicians input a patient’s age, sex, weight, height, previous fracture, [history of] parent with fractured hip, current smoking status, glucocorticoids, rheumatoid arthritis, secondary osteoporosis, alcohol (3 units/day or more), and bone mineral density (by DXA at the femoral neck) into the tool, to obtain a 10-year probability of fracture.

“Crystal Bone takes a different approach,” Dr. Ebeling, from Monash University, Melbourne, who was not involved with the research but who disclosed receiving funding from Amgen, told this news organization in an email.

The algorithm uses electronic health records (EHRs) to identify patients who are likely to have a fracture within the next 2 years, he explained, based on diagnoses and medications associated with osteoporosis and fractures. These include ICD-10 codes for fractures at various sites and secondary causes of osteoporosis (such as rheumatoid and other inflammatory arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, celiac disease, and inflammatory bowel disease).

“This is a very useful advance,” Dr. Ebeling summarized, “in that it would alert the clinician to patients in their practice who have a high fracture risk and need to be investigated for osteoporosis and initiated on treatment. Otherwise, the patients would be missed, as currently often occurs.”

“It would need to be adaptable to other [EMR] systems and to be validated in a large separate population to be ready to enter clinical practice,” he said, “but these data look very promising with a good [positive predictive value (PPV)].”

Similarly, Juliet Compston, MD, said: “It provides a novel, fully automated approach to population-based screening for osteoporosis using EHRs to identify people at high imminent risk of fracture.”

Dr. Compston, emeritus professor of bone medicine, University of Cambridge, England, who was not involved with the research but who also disclosed being a consultant for Amgen, selected the study as one of the top clinical science highlights abstracts at the meeting.

“The algorithm looks at ICD codes for previous history of fracture, medications that have adverse effects on bone – for example glucocorticoids, aromatase inhibitors, and anti-androgens – as well as chronic diseases that increase the risk of fracture,” she explained.

“FRAX is the most commonly used tool to estimate fracture probability in clinical practice and to guide treatment decisions,” she noted. However, “currently it requires human input of data into the FRAX website and is generally only performed on individuals who are selected on the basis of clinical risk factors.”

“The Crystal Bone algorithm offers the potential for fully automated population-based screening in older adults to identify those at high risk of fracture, for whom effective therapies are available to reduce fracture risk,” she summarized.

“It needs further validation,” she noted, “and implementation into clinical practice requires the availability of high-quality EHRs.”
 

Algorithm validated in 106,328 patients aged 50 and older

Despite guidelines that recommend screening for osteoporosis in women aged 65 and older, men older than 70, and adults aged 50-79 with risk factors, real-world data suggest such screening is low, the researchers note.

The current validation study identified 106,328 patients aged 50 and older who had at least 2 years of consecutive medical history with the Reliant Medical Group from December 2014 to November 2020 as well as at least two EHR codes.

The accuracy of predicting a fracture within 2 years, expressed as area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC), was 0.77, where 1 is perfect, 0.5 is no better than random selection, 0.7 to 0.8 is acceptable, and 0.8 to 0.9 indicates excellent predictive accuracy.

In the entire Optum Reliant population older than 50, the risk of fracture within 2 years was 1.95%.

The algorithm identified four groups with a greater risk: 19,100 patients had a threefold higher risk of fracture within 2 years, 9,246 patients had a fourfold higher risk, 3,533 patients had a sevenfold higher risk, and 1,735 patients had a ninefold higher risk.

Many of these patients had no prior diagnosis of osteoporosis

For example, in the 19,100 patients with a threefold greater risk of fracture in 2 years, 69% of patients had not been diagnosed with osteoporosis (49% of them had no history of fracture and 20% did have a history of fracture).

The algorithm had a positive predictive value of 6%-18%, a negative predictive value of 98%-99%, a specificity of 81%-98%, and a sensitivity of 18%-59%, for the four groups.

The study was funded by Amgen. Dr. Mody and another author are Reliant Medical Group employees. Ms. Kelley and another author are Optum Life Sciences employees. One author is an employee at Landing AI. Two authors are Amgen employees and own Amgen stock. Dr. Ebeling has disclosed receiving research funding from Amgen, Sanofi, and Alexion, and his institution has received honoraria from Amgen and Kyowa Kirin. Dr. Compston has disclosed receiving speaking and consultancy fees from Amgen and UCB.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Crystal Bone (Amgen) novel algorithm predicted 2-year risk of osteoporotic fractures in a large dataset with an accuracy that was consistent with FRAX 10-year risk predictions, researchers report.  

The algorithm was built using machine learning and artificial intelligence to predict fracture risk based on International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes, as described in an article published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

The current validation study was presented September 9 as a poster at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

The scientists validated the algorithm in more than 100,000 patients aged 50 and older (that is, at risk of fracture) who were part of the Reliant Medical Group dataset (a subset of Optum Care).

Importantly, the algorithm predicted increased fracture in many patients who did not have a diagnosis of osteoporosis.

The next steps are validation in other datasets to support the generalizability of Crystal Bone across U.S. health care systems, Elinor Mody, MD, Reliant Medical Group, and colleagues report.

“Implementation research, in which patients identified by Crystal Bone undergo a bone health assessment and receive ongoing management, will help inform the clinical utility of this novel algorithm,” they conclude.

At the poster session, Tina Kelley, Optum Life Sciences, explained: “It’s a screening tool that says: ‘These are your patients that maybe you should spend a little extra time with, ask a few extra questions.’ ”

However, further study is needed before it should be used in clinical practice, she emphasized to this news organization.

‘A very useful advance’ but needs further validation

Invited to comment, Peter R. Ebeling, MD, outgoing president of the ASBMR, noted that “many clinicians now use FRAX to calculate absolute fracture risk and select patients who should initiate anti-osteoporosis drugs.”

With FRAX, clinicians input a patient’s age, sex, weight, height, previous fracture, [history of] parent with fractured hip, current smoking status, glucocorticoids, rheumatoid arthritis, secondary osteoporosis, alcohol (3 units/day or more), and bone mineral density (by DXA at the femoral neck) into the tool, to obtain a 10-year probability of fracture.

“Crystal Bone takes a different approach,” Dr. Ebeling, from Monash University, Melbourne, who was not involved with the research but who disclosed receiving funding from Amgen, told this news organization in an email.

The algorithm uses electronic health records (EHRs) to identify patients who are likely to have a fracture within the next 2 years, he explained, based on diagnoses and medications associated with osteoporosis and fractures. These include ICD-10 codes for fractures at various sites and secondary causes of osteoporosis (such as rheumatoid and other inflammatory arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, celiac disease, and inflammatory bowel disease).

“This is a very useful advance,” Dr. Ebeling summarized, “in that it would alert the clinician to patients in their practice who have a high fracture risk and need to be investigated for osteoporosis and initiated on treatment. Otherwise, the patients would be missed, as currently often occurs.”

“It would need to be adaptable to other [EMR] systems and to be validated in a large separate population to be ready to enter clinical practice,” he said, “but these data look very promising with a good [positive predictive value (PPV)].”

Similarly, Juliet Compston, MD, said: “It provides a novel, fully automated approach to population-based screening for osteoporosis using EHRs to identify people at high imminent risk of fracture.”

Dr. Compston, emeritus professor of bone medicine, University of Cambridge, England, who was not involved with the research but who also disclosed being a consultant for Amgen, selected the study as one of the top clinical science highlights abstracts at the meeting.

“The algorithm looks at ICD codes for previous history of fracture, medications that have adverse effects on bone – for example glucocorticoids, aromatase inhibitors, and anti-androgens – as well as chronic diseases that increase the risk of fracture,” she explained.

“FRAX is the most commonly used tool to estimate fracture probability in clinical practice and to guide treatment decisions,” she noted. However, “currently it requires human input of data into the FRAX website and is generally only performed on individuals who are selected on the basis of clinical risk factors.”

“The Crystal Bone algorithm offers the potential for fully automated population-based screening in older adults to identify those at high risk of fracture, for whom effective therapies are available to reduce fracture risk,” she summarized.

“It needs further validation,” she noted, “and implementation into clinical practice requires the availability of high-quality EHRs.”
 

Algorithm validated in 106,328 patients aged 50 and older

Despite guidelines that recommend screening for osteoporosis in women aged 65 and older, men older than 70, and adults aged 50-79 with risk factors, real-world data suggest such screening is low, the researchers note.

The current validation study identified 106,328 patients aged 50 and older who had at least 2 years of consecutive medical history with the Reliant Medical Group from December 2014 to November 2020 as well as at least two EHR codes.

The accuracy of predicting a fracture within 2 years, expressed as area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC), was 0.77, where 1 is perfect, 0.5 is no better than random selection, 0.7 to 0.8 is acceptable, and 0.8 to 0.9 indicates excellent predictive accuracy.

In the entire Optum Reliant population older than 50, the risk of fracture within 2 years was 1.95%.

The algorithm identified four groups with a greater risk: 19,100 patients had a threefold higher risk of fracture within 2 years, 9,246 patients had a fourfold higher risk, 3,533 patients had a sevenfold higher risk, and 1,735 patients had a ninefold higher risk.

Many of these patients had no prior diagnosis of osteoporosis

For example, in the 19,100 patients with a threefold greater risk of fracture in 2 years, 69% of patients had not been diagnosed with osteoporosis (49% of them had no history of fracture and 20% did have a history of fracture).

The algorithm had a positive predictive value of 6%-18%, a negative predictive value of 98%-99%, a specificity of 81%-98%, and a sensitivity of 18%-59%, for the four groups.

The study was funded by Amgen. Dr. Mody and another author are Reliant Medical Group employees. Ms. Kelley and another author are Optum Life Sciences employees. One author is an employee at Landing AI. Two authors are Amgen employees and own Amgen stock. Dr. Ebeling has disclosed receiving research funding from Amgen, Sanofi, and Alexion, and his institution has received honoraria from Amgen and Kyowa Kirin. Dr. Compston has disclosed receiving speaking and consultancy fees from Amgen and UCB.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.