News Release

Announcing launch of FRAX version 3.1

Now with 8 new country models, 6 additional languages

Business Announcement

International Osteoporosis Foundation

The WHO Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX®) has today been launched in version 3.1., featuring eight new country models and accessible in six additional languages.

FRAX® is a free online fracture-risk calculator (http://www.shef.ac.uk/FRAX/) that has been developed by the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Metabolic Bone Diseases at the University of Sheffield, UK. A growing number of physicians around the world are using the tool as an aid in making informed treatment decisions in the course of a clinical assessment of their patients. The calculation tool generates the following results:

  • The 10-year probability of a major osteoporotic event
  • The 10-year probability of a hip fracture
  • Body Mass Index
  • For UK users, NOGG guidance is accessible, providing a guide for interpreting the results and indicating potential courses of action.

FRAX® is country-specific, with each country model based on national epidemiological data on osteoporotic fracture incidence and mortality rates. A total of 26 country models are available, now including Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, the Netherlands, and South Korea. A model for Denmark will be added shortly.

Version 3.1 is accessible in 11 languages, with the addition of simplified Chinese, Danish, Finnish, Russian, Swedish and Polish.

iPhone Application makes tool accessible in all clinical settings:

In order to expand accessibility of the tool to clinical settings without internet access, an iPhone application has recently been launched in partnership with the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF). Any proceeds resulting from iPhone downloads are used to support IOF educational programmes. The iPhone application can be downloaded at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/frax/id370146412?mt=8

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About FRAX®

The ultimate aim of the clinician in the management of osteoporosis should be to reduce the risk of fractures. Treatment decisions must be made through good clinical judgement and through improved identification of patients at high risk. FRAX® is a simple web-tool that integrates clinical information in a quantitative manner to predict a 10-year probability of major osteoporotic fracture for both women and men in different countries. Developed at the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Metabolic Bone Diseases, University of Sheffield, UK, the tool assists primary health care providers to better target people in need of intervention, improving the allocation of healthcare resources towards patients most likely to benefit from treatment. The tool can be accessed free of charge at http://www.shef.ac.uk/FRAX/ or via iPhone Application.

About IOF

The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) is a nongovernmental umbrella organization dedicated to the worldwide fight against osteoporosis, the disease known as "the silent epidemic". IOF's members – committees of scientific researchers, patient, medical and research societies and industry representatives from around the world – share a common vision of a world without osteoporotic fractures. IOF now represents 195 societies in 93 locations around the world. http://www.iofbonehealth.org


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