| Summary: | Osteoporosis--a chronic, debilitating disease--predisposes patients to fractures of the hip, spine, vertebrae, and other skeletal sites. For many years, measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) has been the primary method of determining patients' need for osteoporosis pharmacotherapy. Although BMD measurement remains the gold standard for diagnosing and monitoring patients with osteoporosis, this technology is not available to all patients and should not be used as the sole method of determining the need for osteoporosis treatment. To address the issue of fracture assessment, the World Health Organization convened an international panel of osteoporosis experts to develop a fracture risk assessment model, which is known as FRAX. The model has some limitations in terms of the data included and the populations used to derive the algorithms. Research is needed to determine the validity of this tool for patients in the United States. This article describes the FRAX model specifically in terms of its cost-effectiveness, benefits, and limitations, and discusses the implications for nurse practitioners caring for patients with osteoporosis.
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