Opinions and attitudes concerning osteoporosis among Austrian general practitioners

Abstract

General practitioners play a crucial role in the management of osteoporosis. Thus, it is essential to determine the opinions and attitudes of family doctors concerning this disease. A structured pencil-paper questionnaire was distributed to all general physicians in a practice in Austria and 3.2% responded. Results were compared with a similar survey carried out in 1993. 84.4% of the responding doctors regarded the public health impact of osteoporosis as rather or very important, compared with 49.2% in 1993. 83.3% regarded prevention of osteoporosis as effective or very effective. This proportion rose from 66.2% in 1993. Regular physical exercise was rated as most effective in the prevention of osteoporosis, followed by calcium-rich diet and vitamin D- and calcium supplementation. 33.6% reported carrying out a standardised risk assessment prior to referral/non-referral for bone mineral densitometry. The most frequently cited aspects of the patient's medical history leading to this examination were permanent corticosteroid therapy, a history of fractures, and pain, as reported by 93.6, 84.6 and 71.2%, respectively. The most frequently reported interventions recommended by doctors to their osteoporosis patients in the prevention of falls were reduction of trip hazards (87.2%), reduction of psychotropic drugs (50.0%), balance, strength and endurance training (57.7, 48.1, and 42.3%, respectively). These results reveal strengths in the approach to prevention and early recognition of osteoporosis and prevention of falls, but potential room for improvement in the management of osteoporosis by general practitioners is also shown.