A national team of rheumatology experts has outlined changes they would like to see in osteoporosis guidelines.
The collaboration, known as the National Osteoporosis Guideline groups, includes representation from the Bone Research Society, British Geriatrics Society, British Orthopaedic Association, British Society of Rheumatology, and National Osteoporosis Society.
They have published new provisional guidelines, intended “as a framework from which local protocols could be developed”. In the journal Rheumatology, Dr Marwan Bukhari of Liverpool University, UK, comments on the guidelines.
He writes: “This is quite refreshing in view of the perceived ‘one size fits all’ culture that has emerged from NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) guidance and target culture from Whitehall.
“The guideline covers men as well as women and deals with prevention as well as treatment strategies and is a holistic document for use by clinicians, managers and patients alike.”
He explains that current official guidance has not been updated with recent advances in the literature regarding the diagnoses and management of osteoporosis. For example, it omits new World Health Organisation work which gives a ten-year fracture risk assessment.
Current guidance also leaves out newer treatments such as zolendronate, male patients, and certain patient groups including women on glucocorticoid therapy and some post-menopausal women.
Dr Bukhari concludes: “This holistic document pulls together disparate guidelines for the management of osteoporosis and updates them, making them more relevant to the health care consumer.
“It is hoped that all NHS workers take notice of them and of osteoporosis. Perhaps inclusion in the quality outcomes framework will make osteoporosis more prominent amongst health professionals and the public.”
Leave a Reply