Effect of Assessing Risk for Osteoporosis on Physician and Patient Behaviors

Overview

The study seeks to determine the impact of assessing risk for osteoporosis in women on patient and physician behaviors through a pharmacist directed osteoporosis screening program. Women will be offered a heel ultrasound to screen for their bone density and may or may not be asked questions about their risk for bone fracture. Pharmacists will counsel and educate all women on ways to prevent the onset of osteoporosis. Women will be telephoned three months after the screening and asked a series of 10 questions to follow up on decisions made by their physicians or changes made to their health behaviors related to bone health.

A maximum of 90 participants will be recruited and randomized to the FRAX® assessment intervention group or the control group to a total of 45 participants in each group. The number of participants was chosen based on the simple randomized design of the study and use of basic statistics (versus regression analysis). Subjects will be recruited from the employee population of Duquesne University, clients visiting the Spirit of Health mobile health unit, and the downtown Pittsburgh community and surrounding neighborhoods of Duquesne University. Participants will be recruited through posted flyers at these various screening venues. Data collected will be the T-score at baseline screening in both groups. The percent risk for fracture as determined by the FRAX® tool will be determined for the intervention group. After 3 months have elapsed, a questionnaire will be administered via telephone to both the intervention and control groups, a series of 12 yes/no questions. Fisher's exact test will be used to analyze the data. Data collected will be nominal data with n in each group at 45 for a total of 90 participants. Descriptive statistics will also be employed.