Percentage of the population at high risk of osteoporotic fracture in South Korea: analysis of the 2010 Fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination survey data

Osteoporosis and high-risk osteopenia (high-risk of osteoporotic fractures) are highly prevalent in South Korean postmenopausal women and men aged 50 years and over. This study determined the percentages of the population at high risk of osteoporotic fractures according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria and the Fracture Risk Assessment (FRAX) model. Data collected from the 2010 Fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a cross-sectional survey of the general South Korean general population, were analyzed. The percentages of the population with high-risk osteopenia according to the US National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) and Japanese treatment guidelines were subsequently determined and compared. Based on the WHO criteria and FRAX model, 37.7 % of the menopausal women and 12.7 % of the men aged 50 years and older are at high risk of osteoporotic fracture. According to the Japanese and NOF guidelines, 10.9 (10.6 % of men and 11.2 % of women) and 10.7 % (10.6 % of men and 10.9 % of women), respectively, of the study population with osteopenia are at high risk of fracture. By age group, 49.3 % of Korean women aged 55 years and older, 67.7 % of Korean women aged 65 years and older, and 33.5 % of Korean men aged 75 years and older are at high risk. As a very large percentage of the South Korean postmenopausal population has osteoporosis or high-risk osteopenia, greater effort at identifying and treating this population should be expended to prevent osteoporotic fracture.