Baseline charateristics of the population enrolled in the Italian Observational Study on Severe Osteoporosis (ISSO)

Objective Baseline characteristics of the population enrolled in the ISSO study, designed to evaluate the incidence of vertebral and non-vertebral fractures in Italian patients with severe osteoporosis treated according to clinical practice over 24 months observation. Methods Prospective observational study in 783 post-menopausal women and men entering 18-month treatment with teriparatide in a community setting at 57 centres in Italy. Characterisation included demographics, fracture risk factors, hone mineral density, fracture status, Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) measured by the European Quality of Life Questionnaire, EQ-5D, and back pain assessed by VAS. Results Most patients were elderly women (90.5%), mean age +/- SD was 72.9 +/- 8.8 years. Nearly all (91.3%) had experienced >= 1 vertebral fracture (mean +/- SD, 3.6 +/- 2.2 per patient), 37.5% had >= 1 non-vertebral fracture (mean +/- SD, 1.4 +/- 0.7 per patient). Nearly all patients were suffering from back pain (94.9%), which had significantly restricted their daily activities (51.7%) and had likely or very likely been caused by vertebral fractures (29.2% and 55.8%, respectively). Mean EuroQoL EQ-5D index value was 0.58 +/- 0.25 and VAS score 49.2 +/- 23.6. Non-vertebral fractures, back pain and multiple vertebral fractures were associated with lower HRQoL (EuroQoL-5D Index both p<0.001, EQ-5D VAS score p=0.025 and p