On-Site PhD conferral Robert Y. van der Velde

Key words: osteopenia, vertebral fractures, fracture incidence

"Epidemiology of clinical fractures, morphometric vertebral fractures and osteoporosis treatment"

For people with osteoporosis, it is cost-effective to start specific therapy, however, for people with osteopenia, it is not. Here, the paradoxical situation arises that: in people over 50 years of age with a fracture, more people have osteopenia than osteoporosis. In order to reduce the incidence of fractures, it is necessary to identify subgroups within the group of people with osteopenia with such an increased risk of fracture that it is cost-effective to start specific treatment for them. People with both osteopenia and vertebral fractures are such a subgroup. However, vertebral fractures are often missed. This dissertation studied the influence of the new guideline from 2011, in which Vertebral Fracture Assessment was recommended for everyone aged 50+ with a non-vertebral fracture. It turned out that the diagnosis of vertebral fractures strongly increased as a result, which made 30% more persons eligible for treatment.

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