Fracture incidence in a large cohort of men age 30 years and older with osteoporosis

In this large retrospective study of men with presumed osteoporosis, we estimate the rate of osteoporosis-related fractures in men age ≥30 years. Our results suggest that spine and hip fractures continue to be a considerable disease burden for osteoporotic men of all ages.

The purposes of this study were to describe a cohort of men with presumed osteoporosis and estimate the incidence rates of fractures by age.

Using US administrative claims data, we identified 43,813 men ≥30 years old with an osteoporosis diagnosis or use of an osteoporosis medication. Men were followed for a minimum of 12 months after diagnosis or treatment of osteoporosis (index date), until the earliest of fracture (hip, spine, pelvis, distal femur, humerus, wrist, forearm), disenrollment, or study end date.

During the study period, there were 3834 first fractures following the index date and 3303 fractures in the 6-month period prior to the diagnosis/treatment of osteoporosis. Incidence rates of osteoporosis-related fracture, estimated from the index date onward, increased with age, although did not significantly differ from one another in younger age groups (30–49 and 50–64 years). Spine fractures had the highest incidence rate in men across all age groups, increasing from 10.8 per 100,000 person-years (p-yrs) (95 % confidence interval (CI) 9.1, 12.7), 12.2 per 100,000 p-yrs (95 % CI 11.2, 13.3), and 15.3 per 100,000 p-yrs (95 % CI 13.8, 16.9) in men 30–49, 50–64, and 65–74 years to 33.4 per 100,000 p-yrs (95 % CI 31.5, 35.4) in men ≥75 years. Hip fractures were the second most common, with the incidence rate reaching 16.2 per 100,000 (95 % CI 14.9, 17.6) in the ≥75-year group.

These incidence rates suggest that spine and hip fractures are a considerable disease burden for men of all ages diagnosed and/or treated for osteoporosis.