Using the OST index to identify women at risk of osteoporosis : a validation study in Belgium

peer reviewe

On Conducting Burden-of-Osteoporosis Studies: A Review of the Core Concepts and Practical Issues. A Study Carried out under the Auspices of a Who Collaborating Center

Osteoporosis is a problem that is relevant to public health from the clinical, economic and social viewpoints. Except in a handful of industrialized countries, there is a considerable void in our knowledge of the magnitude of the problem. By exploring both the epidemiological and the economic impact of osteoporosis and the fractures associated with it in a particular country, studies of the 'burden of illness' (BOI) can fill that void. BOI analysis raises many questions at both the conceptual and the practical level. The purpose of this paper is to review the methodology underlying analyses of this type, to discuss its limitations and to provide a general format to improve their implementation in the field of osteoporosis. Investigators involved in BOI analysis should be very clear and explicit regarding the methods they adopt, so that studies in different countries can be interpreted and compared appropriately by interested parties

Bone-specific treatment design in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Pharmaco-economic aspects

peer reviewedFairly new economic evaluations were, so far, properly conducted in the field of prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. This lack of studies is likely to be related to the pathophysiology and the natural course of the disease, the small number of disease-specific instruments allowing the evaluation of quality of life changes following fractures and the frequent interaction of osteoporotic treatments with other body systems. Notwithstanding a lot of efforts have to be brought before economic evaluations in osteoporosis become a key determinant of Public Health strategies, it remains of prime interest to promote this type of research taking into account the importance of the social, human and economic burden of this disease