Disease is costly for Californians, according to UCSF researchers.(University of California San Francisco )(osteoporosis)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

2002 JUL 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Costs for osteoporosis in California topped $2.4 billion in 1998, with hip fracture accounting for 64% of the burden, according to researchers in the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Nursing Institute for Health & Aging. The study, the first to analyze cost of osteoporosis in California, appears in the June 2002, issue of Osteoporosis International.

According to the researchers, the disease impacts mostly women. Of those hospitalized, 80% are white and 75% are over age 65. Medicare pays for most of the hospital care, and nursing home care represents the largest cost for people with osteoporosis (59% of the dollars spent treating the disease). The researchers noted that nursing home costs are large because osteoporotic fractures often lead to institutionalization.

"This is a hidden disease in that the diagnosis 'osteoporosis' is rarely recorded as the main reason for a hospitalization. Most people are unaware they even have the disease until they suffer a ...