Understanding and predicting patient-specific osteoporotic fractures

骨质疏松症已成为全球卫生重点问题，2009年10月20日被定为“世界骨质疏松症日”。在加拿大，骨质疏松症的患病率在50岁以上的女性中为21.3%，在男性中为5.5%。加拿大每年发生超过3万例骨质疏松性髋部骨折。到2041年，由于人口老龄化，加拿大髋部骨折的数量预计将翻两番，每年髋部骨折的费用预计将增加到24亿美元。虽然患者股骨双能x线骨密度（DXA）的骨密度（BMD）是目前世界卫生组织（WHO）指定的骨质疏松症诊断的参考标准，但许多骨质疏松性骨折的测量值高于传统的骨质疏松阈值。因此，仅根据骨密度预测骨质疏松性骨折并不是最理想的；其他与骨密度无关的因素，如患者身高和体重，也在骨质疏松性骨折中发挥作用。

Osteoporosis has become a worldwide health priority and October 20th, 2009 was designated "World Osteoporosis Day". In Canada, the prevalence of osteoporosis is 21.3% in women and 5.5% in men over age 50. Over 30,000 osteoporotic hip fractures occur each year in Canada. By the year 2041, the number of hip fractures in Canada is expected to quadruple due to population aging and the annual cost of hip fractures is expected to increase to $2.4 billion. Although bone mineral density (BMD) from patients' femur dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is currently the reference standard designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the diagnosis of osteoporosis, many osteoporotic fractures occur with measurements above the conventional osteoporotic threshold. Therefore, prediction of osteoporotic fractures based on BMD alone is not optimal; other BMD-independent factors such as patient height and body weight also play roles in osteoporotic fractures.