Findings in the Area of Osteoporosis Reported from Jichi Medical University (Status quo of osteoporosis treatment in Japan disclosed by the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups: too late in treatment …)

Insurance Daily News

2019 AUG 09 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators publish new report on Musculoskeletal Diseases and Conditions - Osteoporosis. According to news reporting from Tochigi ken, Japan, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “For the first time ever, the details of osteoporotic treatment were unveiled through the big data published by the government of Japan. The number of patients being treated is low and treatment start is late, especially in men.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Jichi Medical University, “Our data are useful for education to not only patients but also doctors. To analyze the current status and trend of osteoporosis treatment in Japan by analyzing the data on main drugs for osteoporosis disclosed in the National Database open data. We used the National Database open data released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in September 2018. Data on bisphosphonates, denosumab, and teriparatide were extracted to calculate the number of patients treated with these drugs based on the number of prescriptions filed. Using these prescription numbers, the proportion of patients treated with bisphosphonates, denosumab, or teriparatide among osteoporosis patients was calculated. Further, the data on the incidence of hip fractures were employed to validate the appropriateness of the timing of treatment initiation to osteoporosis patients in Japan. The number of patients in men administered bisphosphonates, denosumab, or teriparatide was about one tenth of that in women. The proportion of osteoporosis patients in men treated with bisphosphonates, denosumab, or teriparatide was highest in age group over 80 years at 19.4%. The proportion of osteoporosis patients in women treated with bisphosphonates, denosumab, or teriparatide was highest in age group 70-79 years at 23.7%. The incidence of hip fractures increases sharply over 80 years of age in both genders.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Our findings suggested that osteoporosis treatment should be initiated in younger age, especially in men, in order to avoid osteoporotic fractures in Japan.”

For more information on this research see: Status quo of osteoporosis treatment in Japan disclosed by the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups: too late in treatment initiation and too few in treated patients? Archives of Osteoporosis, 2019;14(1):84. Archives of Osteoporosis can be contacted at: Springer, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA. (Springer - www.springer.com; Archives of Osteoporosis - http://www.springerlink.com/content/1862-3522/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Y. Kamata, Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Jichi Medical University, 3311-1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke-shi, Tochigi-ken, 329-0498, Japan.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11657-019-0637-7. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.