CORR Insights?: Undiagnosed vertebral fractures influence quality of life in postmenopausal women with reduced ultrasound parameters

摘要

he work by Nuti et al. is of interest on several levels. In this potentially seminal work, the authors reviewed the results of quantitative ultrasound screening of the calcaneus in a cohort of 2350 women older than 60 years of age. The final study group was limited to 885 individuals. Of those individuals, 23.1% had previously undiagnosed osteopo-rotic vertebral fractures. The authors found that severe verbal fractures were associated with a worsening of health-related quality of life as defined by the Quality of Life Questionnaire of the European Foundation for Osteoporosis (QUALEFFO). This is the key to understanding the significance of these data. Of the five major domains of the QUALEFFO (Pain, Physical Function, Social Function, General Health Perception, and Mental Function), lower scores were associated with severe osteoporotic vertebral fractures in two of five domains (Physical Function, General Health Perception) with Mental Function bordering on statistical significance. The total score also was lower (p < 0.024). The clear implication is that undiagnosed osteoporotic vertebral fractures have an important impact on quality of life, and that an efficient, safe screening mechanism would be of potential value.