Abstract
Osteoporosis is underdiagnosed and undertreated in people living in Residential Aged
Care Facilities (RACFs), even though aged-care residents are at greater risk of experiencing
fractures than their community-dwelling counterparts. The first (2009) and second
(2016) Consensus Conferences on the Treatment of Osteoporosis in RACFs in Australia
addressed the prevention of falls and fractures in RACFs. A third Consensus Conference
was held to review advances in the field of osteoporosis for people living in RACFs
and to update current guidelines. The Conference was held virtually in October 2020
due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendance at the meeting was open to health practitioners
(n = 116) (eg, general practitioners, geriatricians, rehabilitation specialists, endocrinologists,
pharmacists, and physiotherapists) working in RACFs. Participants chose and/or were
assigned to breakout groups to review the evidence and reach a consensus on the topic
area assigned to the group, which was then presented to the entire group by a nominated
spokesperson. Recommendations developed by breakout groups were discussed and voted
on by all attending participants. This article updates the evidence for preventing
falls and fractures and managing osteoporosis in older adults living in RACFs based
on agreed outcomes from the group. We anticipate these updated recommendations will
provide health practitioners with valuable guidance when practicing in RACFs.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 21, 2022
Footnotes
This Consensus was endorsed as an official activity of the International Osteoporosis Foundation. The Consensus Conference was funded with an unrestricted educational grant from Amgen Australia and a grant from the Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science.
GD received unrestricted grants from Amgen, Australia and Abbott, Australia, serves at Advisory Boards of Amgen, Abbott, and TSI and received speaker honorarium from Amgen, Lilly, Australia, Abbott, Bio Concepts, and Nutricia. KG has received speaker's honorarium from Amgen. SI serves at the Advisory Board of Abbott. AP received unrestricted grant and speaker's honorarium from Amgen and Lilly and serves at their advisory board. CI has received Research, Education, Honoraria and Advisory Board at Amgen, Merck Sharpe and Dohme, Sanofi Aventis, and Eli Lilly. SB, JCTC, MF, BK, ML and CS have no conflict of interest to declare.
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