ABSTRACT
DXA measures bone density to diagnose osteoporosis and monitor changes in bone mass, enabling effective management to support patient outcomes in the prevention of fragility fractures.
Osteoporosis has no symptoms except for fragility fractures. In the UK 1:2 women and 1:5 men over the age of 50 will sustain a fracture due to low bone mass, often sustaining three or more fractures before being diagnosed and 55% of older women with a hip fracture have had a prior vertebral fracture.
Opportunities for person-centred care exist within DXA services to ensure an optimum experience for patients attending the service and to ensure holistic case finding to support ongoing treatment and management recommendations.
In DXA there are considerations unique to each patient for optimum acquisition of the DXA measurements and the impact of sub-optimal scans on reliability. There are further considerations on interpretation and clinical reporting for reliability and if changes in bone mass are statistically or clinically significant, as well as the clinical context for the patient concerned.
