In collaboration with the Universities of East Anglia and Sheffield, we have investigated the effectiveness of screening for women at high risk of hip fracture in primary care compared to usual management. The study was a two-arm, multi-centre randomised controlled trial (SCOOP) in women aged 70-85 years comparing a FRAX-based (clinical risk factors/ BMD) screening programme with usual management in primary care. There was a 28% reduction in hip fractures in the screening arm. The study showed for the first time that a community-based screening programme was effective.
As part of the FRAX team we continued to develop the FRAX risk-assessment tool; studies include investigation of the efficacy of pharmacological interventions across baseline fracture probability; assessing the potential for novel assessments of fracture risk; understanding the contribution of falls to fracture risk and evaluating the predictive value of trabecular bone score for incident fracture.
We have also initiated the International Osteoporosis Foundation secondary fracture prevention programme (“Capture The Fracture”) which is now a global benchmarking tool for the quality assessment of secondary fracture prevention services worldwide.
