OPTIMIST-OP - Optimising screening and treatment of osteoporosis: Technical cooperation and Seminar to uniformize procedures and foster good practice
OPTIMIST-OP
Promoter: Nursing School of Lisbon (ESEL), Nursing Research, Innovation and Development Centre of Lisbon (CIDNUR)
Partners:Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Sorlandet Hospital
EEA Grants: 15 000,00 €
Total Amount: 19 502,95 €
Grace Code: PT-BI101
Programme:What did this initiative focus on?
Osteoporotic fractures are a major public health problem in modern societies. The early identification of osteoporosis and fracture risk is an essential first step to face the problem effectively. A clinical algorithm using 12 clinical variables – FRAX® – has been developed and validated for more than 70 countries, on all continents, to screen the general population about their risk of developing a fracture in the next 10 years. However, no single European country has systematic screening for osteoporosis as they have for cancer, for instance.
By facilitating the early identification of people at risk, beyond the preventable suffering, handicaps, societal costs and preventable deaths, this project will contribute to solving social disparity: a problem affecting mainly elderly women, whose “voice is not heard” as it should be. It is estimated that osteoporosis affects 1 in 5 women aged ≥50 (i.e 20%) compared to 1 in 20 men aged ≥50 (i.e. 5%).