Authors (including presenting author) :
Lai CN
Affiliation :
Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology, Kwong Wah Hospital
Keyword 1: :
HOLISTIC CARE
Keyword 2: :
FRAGILITY FRACTURE
Introduction :
Fragility fractures (FF), often resulting from low-impact trauma due to osteoporosis, pose a significant health impact, especially within aging populations. While a service gap exists, where many patients are neither diagnosed nor treated for underlying osteoporosis following a fracture, leaving them at high risk of subsequent injuries.
Objectives :
To address this gap, the Fracture Liaison Service (FLS) has launched in Kwong Wah Hospital as a systematic, multidisciplinary approach to identify, assess, and manage patients following an initial fracture. Nurses play a crucial role in liaising different disciplines like geriatricians for treatment identification, PT/OT for fall prevention education, dietitian for nutrition optimisation. They are also responsible for monitoring patients’ responses by arranging long term follow-up once treatments have started.
Methodology :
The efficacy of FLS can be evaluated with reference to the guideline issued by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF). Several key performance indicators such as proportion of patients receiving fracture risk assessment; anti-osteoporotic medications (AOM) recommendations; follow-up within 16 weeks after fracture, etc., would be examined.
Result & Outcome :
In 2024, a total of 386 patients were having newly diagnosed fragility fractures. They all received fracture risk assessments and fall prevention education. 58.8% of them commenced AOM and 98.2% of them received follow-up within 16 weeks after fracture. Those key performance indicators show adequate achievement of the service. AOM was not recommended for some patients due to their poor mobility level or medical conditions. The idea of multidisciplinary collaborations between geriatricians, nurses, PT, OT and dentists for FLS in KWH can definitely ensure timely diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis, thus minimizing the likelihood of developing subsequent fractures in the near future.
