Osteoporosis screening called cost effective

Screening all postmenopausal women for osteoporosis -- or thinning of the bones -- is highly cost effective, a new study has found.

''Even among the oldest of the elderly, [screening and] treatment of those with osteoporosis is worthwhile," said Dr. John T. Schousboe from Park Nicollet Health Services in Minneapolis, the study's lead author.

Schousboe and his colleagues investigated the lifetime health benefits and costs from a societal perspective of screening all women 65 years or older for osteoporosis, followed by treatment with alendronate (Fosamax) for those with hip density scores indicating bone thinning.

Not only did this strategy cost less than $50,000 per quality-adjusted life-year gained at all ages, the authors report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, but also the cost effectiveness improved with increasing age.

Additional analyses indicate that there is nearly a 50-percent chance that the screen-and-treat strategy would be cost saving for 85-year-old women, the researchers note, whereas the probability of cost saving exceeds 75 percent for 95-year-old women.

Improved screening and adherence to treatment are critical to ensuring the success of the screen-and-treat strategy, Schousboe said.

REUTERS