Physician treatment of osteoporosis in response to heel ultrasound bone mineral density reports

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Calcitonin in the context of osteoporosis and bone density, published as a randomized controlled trial.

Optimal information that should be included in ultrasound (US) heel bone mineral density (BMD) reports is not known.

The researchers screened people at health fairs using the Sahara heel US machine.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 88 people taking part.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Calcitonin and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

What Was Measured

For those with a T-score of </= 1.0, letters were sent to their primary care physician notifying them of the result.

Physicians were randomly assigned to (1) a standard letter, which recommended central bone density screening (dual X-ray absorptiometry [DXA]) and treatment if the BMD was low; or (2) an extended letter, which also outlined treatment strategies based on recommended subsequent central DXA scan results for a T-score of < 1.50 and also if < 2.00.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Bone Density, Calcaneus, Calcitonin, Calcium, Diphosphonates, Mass Screening and Osteoporosis.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Calcitonin in 88 people in people with osteoporosis and bone density.

The publication is from 2002 (Journal of clinical densitometry : the official journal of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Calcitonin compound page, Osteoporosis and bone density research.