Environmental and metabolic influences on musculoskeletal and other diseases in a cohort of elderly women

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Osteoporosis is a largely preventable disease yet 1 in 10 Australians have osteoporosis. Every year >64,000 osteoporotic fractures occur, which is one every 8.1 minutes and women are three times as likely to have the disease than men. The Bone and Calcium Research Group at the University of Western Australia, has been monitoring a cohort of elderly women for since 1998. This study is called the Calcium Intake Fracture Outcome Study or CAIFOS. 1,500 women were recruited to study whether a daily calcium supplement for 5 years helps to prevent fractures compared to a diet without a supplement. Each year the study participants are reviewed and asked whether or not they have broken any bones and have other measurements to monitor their bone and cardiovascular health and cognitive function. The subjects will end the treatment phase in 2003 and they will find out the results of the study. More than 93% are interested in being followed for a further 5 years, where they will be contacted every 6 months and asked questions about their general health including information on fracture, hospital visits and changes in medication use. The subjects will have a clinic visits at 2 and 5 years post treatment. With the ongoing collection of adverse event data and metabolic and environmental data from the first phase of the study, we will be able to examine the metabolic and environmental factors that influence musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and mental health. This is important to determine how we can prevent disease to maintain the quality of life and independence in the elderly, a growing segment of the population.