Background: Patients who survive hip fracture are at high risk of recurrent fractures, but rates of osteoporosis treatment 1 year after sustaining a fracture are less than 10% to 20%. We have developed an osteoporosis case manager intervention. The case manager educated patients, arranged bone mineral density tests, provided prescriptions, and communicated with primary care physicians. The intervention was compared with usual care in a randomized controlled trial. Methods:We recruited from all hospitals that participate in the Capital Health system (Alberta, Canada), including patients 50 years or older who had sustained a hip fracture and excluding those who were receiving osteoporosis treatment or who lived in a long-term care facility. Primary outcome was bisphosphonate therapy 6 months after fracture; secondary outcomes included bone mineral density testing, appropriate care (bone mineral density testing and treatment if bone mass was low), and intervention costs. Results: We screened 2219 patients and allocated 220, as follows: 110 to the intervention group and 110 to the control group. Median age was 74 years, 60% were

In a multifaceted intervention directed at patients and their physicians, the rates of testing and treatment for osteoporosis after emergency department care for a fragility fracture were more than 3 times those of controls.

Objective. We previously demonstrated that a case manager intervention improved osteoporosis (OP) treatment within 6 months of hip fracture compared with usual care. The second phase of the randomized trial compared a less intensive intervention, facilitated bone mineral density (BMD) testing, with usual care and the case manager intervention. Methods. We initially randomized 220 hip fracture patients to either an OP case manager intervention or usual care. After completing the original trial at 6 months postfracture, usual care patients were reallocated to facilitated BMD testing; BMD tests were arranged and results sent to primary care physicians. Main outcomes (bisphosphonate treatment, BMD tests, receipt of appropriate care) were reascertained 1 year following hip fracture and compared with outcomes achieved by the OP case manager intervention and usual care. Results. Compared with usual care, facilitated BMD testing increased testing from 29% to 68% (P < 0.001), bisphosphonate use from 22% to 38% (P < 0.001), and receipt of appropriate care from 26% to 45% (P < 0.001). The more intensive (70 versus 30 minutes) and expensive ($56 versus $24 Canadian per patient) OP case manager intervention led to significantly higher bisphosphonate use (54% versus 38%; P ‫؍‬ 0.03), receipt of appropriate care (71% versus 45%; P < 0.001), and more BMD testing (80% versus 68%; P ‫؍‬ 0.06) than usual care followed by facilitated BMD testing. Conclusion. Compared with usual care, 2 different inexpensive interventions resulted in significant increases in appropriate management of OP after hip fracture. The magnitude of improvements achieved was directly related to the intensity of the interventions.

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