OSTEOPOROSIS PREVALENCE IN WEST VIRGINIA

Risk Factors for Osteoporois Among West Virginians
State Burden of Fractures Model

National Osteoporosis Foundation Prevalence Estimates

The National Osteoporosis Foundation recently released 1996 and 2015 Osteoporosis Prevalence Figures: State-by-State Report (2). Prevalence figures were based on research summaries from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III) conducted from 1988 through 1994, during which time approximately 34,000 respondents were interviewed in their homes. As part of the survey, bone densitometry was performed on all men and non-pregnant women aged 20 and above. Prevalence estimates for osteoporosis and low bone density were then calculated for persons aged 50 and older using state-specific population estimates extrapolated from 1993 census data. Osteoporosis was defined as bone density values greater than 2.5 standard deviations below a non-Hispanic white female reference group mean aged 20-29 years old; low bone mass (osteopenia) was defined as bone density values between 1 and 2.5 standard deviations below the same mean. A more detailed discussion of the NHANES methodology is found in Appendix B.

The NOF study estimated that in 1996 approximately 13%-14% of the men and women aged 50 and over in any given state had osteoporosis, with many others at risk for the disease. The exceptions to this were the District of Columbia (10%) and Arkansas (12%) on the low end and Iowa (15%), Maine (15%), Nebraska (15%), Rhode Island (15%), and West Virginia (15%) on the high end. The study estimated that a total of 182,962 women in West Virginia suffered from either osteoporosis (63,683) or low bone mass (119,279); among men in the state, 15,878 had osteoporosis and 23,818 had low bone mass.

The table below presents the 1996 estimates in terms of age-specific rates per 1,000 population. Perhaps even more vividly than number estimates, the rates indicate how widespread the burden of osteoporosis is among West Virginia's older population.

In 1996, 416 out of every 1,000 people aged 50 and older in our state either already had osteoporosis or were at risk due to low bone density. Over one-half of all women in this age group, or approximately six out of every ten, were at risk for or from osteoporosis. This is an alarming statistic, and the situation will only worsen if nothing is done. By 2015, the NOF predicts that a total of 227,246 women and 43,383 men in the state will have osteoporosis or low bone mass.

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