Awareness, attitudes and opinions on osteoporosis of primary care physicians working in the metropolitan area of Rome: a brief report.

Attitudes of primary care physicians towards prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis have important implications in clinical practice; however, in Italy, this issue has been poorly investigated. This study aimed to determine whether the awareness and opinions of family physicians regarding the management of osteoporosis are in line with the suggestions of experts in the field. One hundred of 115 randomly selected family physicians from the area of Rome were asked to participate, and completed a survey on osteoporosis including ten close-ended questions. Response rates documented the degree of awareness about osteoporosis. Thirty-six percent of physicians make the diagnosis of osteoporosis based exclusively on bone densitometry (BD), while 17% never utilize BD. Fifty-three percent of doctors assess biochemical markers of bone turnover, but half of them are unaware of the existence of more sensitive and specific markers. Forty-four percent of physicians autonomously start therapy according to the suggestions of journal reports (38%), and/or pharmaceutical advertisements (18%). Regarding treatment follow-up, 60% of doctors gave inadequate answers, as 25% and 35% of them check bone markers after six months of therapy, and BD within one year of therapy initiation, respectively. In conclusion, experts on osteoporosis should give more attention to the education of primary care physicians regarding the management of the disease.