Abstract
Introduction: In Portugal there are more than 500,000 people with osteoporosis (OP). In order to reduce the associated morbimortality, the Directorate General of Health and other scientific organizations recommend dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in women > 65 years and men > 70 years, and supplementation with calcium 1000-1200 mg/day and vitamin D 700-800 IU/day in people > 65 years. Aim: Evaluate and guarantee the quality of calcium and vitamin D (Ca-VitD) prescription and of DEXA request, in the prevention of OP in elderly patients. Type of study: Descriptive and transversal. Place: Four primary care centers (PCC) on the Northern Region. Population: Elderly registered on the PCC studied. Methods: Studied dimension: technical-scientific quality. Unit of study: women aged 66-70 years and men aged 71-75 years, totalizing 400 elderly registered on the authors PCC. Evaluated professionals: 50 family doctors. Time period: 01.01.2006 to 30.04.2009. Type of data: process. Data source: SAM. Type of evaluation: internal. Criteria: 1. Prescription of Ca-VitD in women 2. Prescription of Ca-VitD in men 3. DEXA request in women 4. DEXA request in men. Data collecting: May 2009. Temporal evaluation: retrospective. Sample: of institutional basis. Type of intervention: educational. Results:According to the adopted quality standards, criterion 1 was good at PCC Chaves-I and Ermesinde and sufficient at PCC Leca da Palmeira and USF Oceanos. Criterion 2 was insufficient in all four PCC. Criterion 3 was good at PCC Chaves-I and Leca da Palmeira and sufficient at PCC Ermesinde and USF Oceanos. Criterion 4 was insufficient in all four PCC. Conclusion: The unknowledge of the recent recommendations and the higher implementation of OP prevention measures in women may explain these results. It is proposed a reassessment after the introduction of corrective measures, with meetings and disclosure of guidelines on the subject.
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