Osteoporosis in Older Men: Informing Patient Management and Improving Health-Related Outcomes

Osteoporosis has been usually considered a female disease, generally causing more fracture risk and complications in adult and older women compared to older men. While vertebral fractures occur in a small proportion of men during middle age, men generally fracture about 10 years later than women, with significant increases in fracture risk after about age 75. Independent of age, men experiencing fragility fractures have a higher risk of life-threatening events compared to women, but the risk of secondary fragility fracture overlaps between men and women. Often, male osteoporosis recognizes the overlap between secondary causes and primary osteoporosis risk factors. Assessment through physical examination, history, and laboratory tests is recommended, with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry of bone density being the preferred diagnostic test for osteoporosis in men. A treatment program should include awareness of diet and vitamin D status, fall risk reduction, and pharmaceutical therapy. Medications that are fracture-reducing in older women should also achieve fewer fractures in older men; however, there is a paucity of studies in men with the primary outcome of fracture risk reduction. Most older men with osteoporosis should be treated with oral or intravenous bisphosphonates, denosumab especially when on androgen deprivation therapy, and initial anabolic treatment should be considered for men at very high risk of fracture. This review summarizes the main features of osteoporosis and fragility fractures in men and reports findings from the available pharmacological and non-pharmacological studies conducted in men.