Direct disclosure of bone density results to patients: Effect on knowledgeof osteoporosis risk and anxiety level

If bone mineral density (BMD) screening is to achieve the aim of preventing the complications of osteoporosis, women with low BMD measurements must le arn that they are at risk, and women at risk must know about and be willing to adopt and persist with measures that can prevent osteoporosis. In this paper we present the results of a randomized controlled trial designed to e xamine whether disclosing the results of a BMD scan directly to women, as w ell as through their general practitioners (GPs), improves their knowledge of their bone density results without adverse psychological sequelae. Direc t disclosure resulted in 19% (59% vs 40% 95% CI for difference in proportio ns: 9.8% to 27.8%) more women being aware of their BMD status at the spine and 22% (58% vs 36%; 95% CI for difference: 12.2% to 29.8%) at the hip. The se differences were observed irrespective of risk status. There was no sign ificant difference in anxiety levels between the randomized groups. We conc lude, therefore, that direct disclosure of BMD results to women, as well as to their GPs, leads to increased knowledge of BMD status without increasin g anxiety, and that BMD measurement services should consider informing wome n routinely of their results directly as well as through their GPs.