USPSTF Recommends Osteoporosis Screening for All Women over 65

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has updated its 2002 recommendations for osteoporosis screening. The article appears in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The major changes in recommendations for bone-mineral density testing in women are:

• screen all women aged 65 and older;

• screen women younger than 65 if their 10-year fracture risk is similar to or greater than that of a 65-year-old white woman without additional risk factors — roughly 9%. (The article recommends using the WHO's FRAX tool to estimate fracture risk.)

The USPSTF expanded its review to include men, and concludes that there is not enough evidence to determine whether screening is beneficial or harmful.

The recommendations apply to all racial and ethnic groups.