Current state of diagnostic and treatment of osteoporosis in real-life clinical practice (a pilot study)

Abstract

We report the results of a pilot study on physician awareness of modern diagnostic methods and drug therapy of osteoporosis (OP) and the use of this knowledge in daily practice. A pilot survey among physicians demonstrated that experts (rheumatologists, endocrinologists, etc.) have a high level of awareness of the OP problem and successfully use this knowledge in daily practice (modern diagnosis, prevention, and treatment methods). They widely prescribe original drugs and certain generics that were shown to be effective in post-marketing surveillance. Limitations of the study: 1) only physicians dealing with diagnosis and treatment of OP were surveyed; hence, the conclusions of this study are valid only for this group of physicians; 2) only physicians working in large cities who can use modern diagnosis methods (densitometry; determination of bone turnover markers) participated in the study; 3) Prolia medication, which has been used in Russia since 2013, was not taken into account in the questionnaire.