Understanding and predicting patient-specific osteoporotic fractures

骨质疏松症已成为世界范围内的健康重点，2009年10月20日被定为“世界骨质疏松症日”。在加拿大，50岁以上女性和男性的骨质疏松症患病率分别为21.3%和5.5%。在加拿大，每年发生的骨质疏松性髋部骨折超过3万例。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，每年髋部骨折的成本预计将增加到24亿美元。虽然双能X线骨密度仪(DXA)是目前世界卫生组织(WHO)指定的诊断骨质疏松的参考标准，但许多骨质疏松性骨折的测量结果高于传统的骨质疏松阈值。因此，仅凭BMD预测骨质疏松性骨折并不是最理想的；其他非BMD因素，如患者的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.