Osteoporosis screening rates low for Asian American Medicare beneficiaries

Rates of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) screening for osteoporosis are lower than expected for Asian American Medicare beneficiaries, according to a study published in Skeletal Radiology.

Soterios Gyftopoulos, M.D., from New York University Langone Health in New York City, and colleagues assessed osteoporosis screening utilization rates among Asian American populations. The analysis included 80,439 Medicare beneficiaries.

The researchers found that 15.1% received osteoporosis screening. For women, the DXA rate was approximately four times greater than the rate for men (19.8 versus 5.0%). For Asian American beneficiaries living in ZIP codes with higher mean household income, DXA was significantly more common than for those in lower-income areas (17.6 versus 14.3%).

DXA was significantly more common among beneficiaries aged younger than 80 years (15.5%) versus those aged 80 years and older (14.1%). Asian American beneficiaries had significantly lower DXA rates compared with other races and ethnicities, when controlling for years of Medicare eligibility, age, sex, location, and mean income.

"We found lower than expected DXA screening rates for Asian American patients," the authors write. "A better understanding of the barriers and facilitators to Asian American osteoporosis screening is needed to improve patient care."