QUALITY-OF-LIFE IN THE ECONOMIC-EVALUATION OF OSTEOPOROSIS PREVENTIONAND TREATMENT

Osteoporosis is associated with fractures that result in morbidity and mortality and a large expenditure of health care resources. Given the large number of people at risk for the development of osteoporosis an d the limited health care resources, it is imperative that clinically and economically favorable approaches to osteoporosis prevention and t reatment be identified and implemented. The quantitative method of cos t-effectiveness evaluation is one method of identifying favorable inte rventions. The importance of quality of life and the concept of qualit y-adjusted life years as an end point for assessing the effectiveness of interventions in osteoporosis is highlighted. The quality of life d ata critically needed to evaluate the impact of interventions in osteo porosis on quality-adjusted life years are discussed.