Sobrediagnóstico en la salud de la mujer: el caso de la osteoporosis

Abstract

In 1994, the World Health Organisation established osteoporosis criteria based on bone mineral density (in terms of T-Score), granting a risk factor the category of disease. Given that it has a low positive predictive value of fractures when applied to low-risk populations, its use as a screening test is controversial because it favours overdiagnosis due to the false labelling of the disease it produces. In the coming years, the indication of densitometry will be made based on the absolute risk of fracture. This is the criterion adopted by the PAPPS (Programa de Actividades Preventivas y de Promoción de la Salud or Programme for Preventive Activities and the Promotion of Health), which proposes as part of its latest recommendations the use of the Z-score instead of the T-Score, as a densitometric evaluation criterion, in a clear effort to fight against overdiagnosis.