Assessing population risk for postmenopausal osteoporosis: a new strategy using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Unlabelled: Osteoporosis public health measures are hindered by the inability to easily identify subclinical disease. We have now estimated state-specific osteoporosis prevalences using a simple formula (OST Index) to analyze age and weight of 62,882 older women; the prevalences determined are similar to those based on BMD. This new method has potential use for guiding implementation of osteoporosis prevention/treatment programs.