Between 1994 and 2003, the number of physician visits for osteoporosis increased fourfold in the US, a trend that coincides with the availability of new medications to treat the bone-thinning disease, new research indicates.

Despite this dramatic rise, the authors believe that most women with osteoporosis have not been diagnosed. Currently, the rate of osteoporosis among older women is estimated to be about 29 percent. Yet, only 13 percent of older women have been diagnosed with the disease.

The findings, which appear in the Archives of Internal Medicine, are based on an analysis of office visit and prescription data recorded in a national database between 1988 and 2003.

No changes in the number of osteoporosis visits were seen between 1988 and 1993, lead author Dr. Randall S. Stafford and colleagues, from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, report. In contrast, between 1994 and 2003, the number of visits increased from 1.3 to 6.3 million.

As this trend was occurring, bisphosphonates drugs, such as Fosamax (alendronate) and Didrocal (etidronate), as well as another type of drug, Evista (raloxifene), became available, the researchers note. In 1988, the percentage of osteoporosis visits that led to drug prescriptions was 82 percent. By 2003, this percentage rose to 97 percent.

Before 1994, calcium and estrogen were the most popular osteoporosis therapies prescribed. After that year, a marked rise in the popularity of bisphosphonates and Evista occurred, while the popularity of calcium and estrogen waned.

“Our results suggest a relationship between drug development and increased disease identification and patient treatment,” the researchers state.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, July 26, 2004.