‘Capture the Fracture’ provides guidance for global efforts to prevent secondary fractures

Fragility fractures due to osteoporosis are a major cause of disability or premature death in older adults. Those at highest risk are patients who have already suffered one fragility fracture; they are at twice the risk of suffering a future fracture compared to others who have not fractured.
Nevertheless health care systems around the world are failing to identify and treat these patients, leaving them exposed to debilitating and life-threatening secondary fractures.
Based on evidence from numerous global studies, a new report, ‘Capture the Fracture: A Best Practice Framework and Global Campaign to Break the Fragility Fracture Cycle’ (1), sets 13 achievable standards for best practice in implementing fracture liaison services (FLS) worldwide, in a broad range of health-economic environments.
The report has been published in the peer-reviewed journal ‘Osteoporosis International’ and is endorsed by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) Committee of Scientific Advisors. It is available at link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00198-013-2348-z
Fracture Liaison Systems help reduce the burden of fragility fractures:
Professor Cyrus Cooper, Chair of the IOF Committee of Scientific Advisors (CSA) emphasized the importance of systematic and coordinated secondary prevention care: ‘Coordinator-based FLS have been shown to close the gap in secondary fracture prevention care, ensuring that fragility fracture sufferers receive appropriate assessment and intervention to reduce future fracture risk.’
The best practice framework sets the foundation for ‘Capture the Fracture’, a multi-stakeholder initiative led by the International Osteoporosis Foundation. The initiative hopes to drive change so that secondary fracture prevention becomes a reality around the world.
The new initiative aims to: