An efficient case finding strategy to diagnose XXXX in a developing society with low treatment frequency.

@entity1 @entity85 @entity170 @entity174
OBJECTIVES: @entity170 is a debilitating condition with rising frequency of @entity174 with advancing age. Life expectancy increases in developing societies with the emergence of @entity170 . There is a need for a simple protocol to diagnose @entity174 that merit treatment for @entity170 . METHODS: Evaluation of all consecutive lateral chest radiographs performed at the National Hospital in the capital city in Greenland over a 3-month period for vertebral body heights at the anterior, middle and posterior regions. Use of anti-osteoporotic drug was evaluated from records of dispensed drugs from Greenland National Pharmacy. RESULTS: 1869 vertebrae were evaluated on radiographs from 203 subjects. On average 9.2 vertebrae (range 5-13) qualified for evaluation in each individual. Median (range) age was 55 (30-82) years. Any @entity85 above 25 (20)  % was seen in 28.6 (50.2)  %. More than one @entity174 was seen in 10.3 (27.1) %. @entity174 occurred in 18.5 (36.9) % of @entity1 from the General Medicine Clinic and in 33.3 (56.5) % of inpatients (p  =  0.029). The occurrence of @entity174 increased with age (p  <  0.001) and hosting more than one vertebral @entity174 was markedly more frequent after the age of 60  years [OR, 95  % CI 9.6, 3.1-30 (5.7, 2.9-11); p  <  0.001] after correction for gender in logistic regressions. The National Pharmacy handed out anti-osteoporotic drugs equal to the treatment of 36 individuals. CONCLUSIONS: @entity174 that merit treatment can be readily diagnosed from lateral chest radiographs taken in routine clinical work-up. They are common in Greenland as demonstrated by this simple protocol to improve diagnosis and treatment of @entity170 in a developing society.
