General practitioners or orthopaedic surgeons - who's responsible for the gap in osteoporosis management?

Minimal trauma fracture (MTF), defined as a fracture sustained from a fall from standing height, is a signal that osteoporosis may be present as an underlying condition requiring further investigation. Even though osteoporosis has been operationally defined by the WHO since the 1990s and measures to assess bone density and to calculate fracture risk are well developed, osteoporosis remains a major, worldwide public health burden. Despite an increase in reliable diagnostics and widely available treatments for osteoporosis, there remains persistent underdiagnosis and undertreatment of osteoporosis in primary care. It is predicted that osteoporosis or osteopenia will affect 6.2 million Australians over the age of 50 years by 2022 at an estimated total cost of $3.84 billion. The rate of fractures is expected to increase by 30% with the prospect of 183,105 fractures per year.