Economic Consequences and Potentially Preventable Costs Related to Osteoporosis in the Netherlands

Background: Osteoporosis often does not involve symptoms, and so the actual number of patients with osteoporosis is higher than the number of diagnosed individuals. This underdiagnosis results in a treatment gap. Objectives: To estimate the total health care resource use and costs related to osteoporosis in the Netherlands, explicitly including fractures, and to estimate the proportion of fracture costs that are linked to the treatment gap and might therefore be potentially preventable; to also formulate, on the basis of these findings, strategies to optimize osteoporosis care and treatment an... Mehr ...