Trends in mortality due to osteoporosis in Spain : an analysis with Joinpoint regression

Abstract

Background: Osteoporosis is a major health problem, particularly in the elderly due to the burden in terms of fracture probability, disability and future health-related quality of life. The aim of this study is to identify the temporal trends in osteoporosis mortality in Spain from 1999 to 2015. Methods: Data were obtained from the Spanish National Institute for Statistics. Ageand sex-specific mortality rates and age-adjusted mortality rates were estimated. Joinpoint regression was used to identify the years when changes in mortality trend and the annual percentage change in mortality rates took place. Results: Women presented a greater globally rate decrease, though the mortality rate difference between gender was reduced by half at the end of the period. In women, significant trend changes were identified in three age groups while in men the only change in trend was identified in the youngest group. The average annual percentage change increases with age in women, while the change in the trend pattern was less clear in men.Conclusion: Mortality caused by osteoporosis in Spain shows only a slight decrease despite the progress experimented in both diagnosis and treatment over the past two decades. Women in older cohorts show the faster decreases.