Self-Reported Prevalence of Osteoporosis in Australia

“Self-report” is generally the only method of determining the prevalence of non-registry based chronic diseases (Bergmann et al., 2004). However, there are difficulties in “case definition” associated with self-report and often the most effective means of identifying the presence of disease is to determine whether the chronic condition in question has been diagnosed by the doctor. Chronic conditions such as osteoporosis are often difficult to identify as they do not generally manifest themselves until after a bone fracture occurs. The aim of this chapter is to determine the self-reported prevalence of osteoporosis and associated demographic factors from a community dwelling sample aged 15 years and over across a 16 year period and compare this prevalence with that obtained from a biomedical study. Associated risk and demographic factors can be examined using these data. The issues around the use of self-reported, doctor-diagnosed osteoporosis to determine disease prevalence will also be discussed.