Secondary fracture prevention in hip fracture patients requires cooperation from general practitioners

Despite individual recommendations on osteoporosis management in patients after hip fracture surgery, addressed by orthopedic surgeons to Czech general practitioners, the patients remained undiagnosed and untreated because of provider-level barriers to post-fracture secondary prevention.

The goal of the study was to assess whether an individual recommendation on osteoporosis treatment addressed to a hip fracture patient’s GP would lead to better osteoporosis management.

Two groups of patients who suffered hip fractures and were treated at the Orthopedic Department were evaluated. In 111 patients, general recommendations on osteoporosis treatment and fracture prevention were provided in a discharge report addressed to the GP. In the second group, 96 patients were provided individually with a detailed written set of recommendations on osteoporosis examination, treatment, and fracture prevention, which was also provided in the discharge report. A questionnaire to assess the provided care was mailed to the patients 5.3 ± 1.2 months of discharge. Those patients who did not return the questionnaires were contacted by phone.

The questionnaires were received from 44% and 49% of patients from the general and detailed recommendation groups, respectively. Along with the phone call, we were able to contact 78 (70.3%) and 68 (70.8%) patients from the general and detailed recommendation groups, respectively. GPs secured osteoporosis evaluation in 14.6% of the patients. Calcium supplementation and vitamin D supplementation were newly provided in 42.7 and 36.4% of the patients, respectively. Anti-resorptive therapy was newly provided in 8.3% of the patients. No significant differences between the groups were observed in osteoporosis evaluation, calcium and vitamin D supplementation, and anti-osteoporosis treatments. Out of 207 patients, further examination or treatment was requested by 45 patients (21.7%); 75 patients (36.2%) declared no interest in further care.

Recommendations on osteoporosis management addressed to Czech GPs after surgical fracture management had little effect on treatment. As the anti-osteoporotic preparations can only be prescribed by specialists, the availability of necessary examinations and treatment is limited by the motivation of GPs. Consequently, the implementation of Fracture Liaison Services to help close the care gap may be limited in the absence of participation by Czech GPs.