Recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of low bone mass for chronological age and childhood osteoporosis in primary care

Introduction: due to the lack of standardised protocols for the management and referral of at-risk patients, there is substantial variability in the prevention and clinical management of childhood osteoporosis among paediatricians in Spain.

Methods: the Working Group on Osteogenesis Imperfecta and Childhood Osteoporosis of the Sociedad Española de Reumatología Pediátrica (SERPE) recently published a consensus document with recommendations on the diagnosis and management of secondary childhood osteoporosis. An expert panel comprised of paediatricians and rheumatologists carried out a qualitative literature review and developed evidence-based recommendations.

For each section, the level of evidence was determined using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine (CEBM) system. A Delphi survey was conducted for those recommendations with a level of evidence of IV or V. All recommendations for which the level of agreement was 70% or greater were included. This survey was sent to all members of the SERPE.

Results: the process yielded 51 recommendations categorized into 8 sections. The resulting recommendations concern when to suspect and how to prevent childhood osteoporosis and low bone mass according to chronological age; which screening and diagnosis methods to use; the current treatments and how to prevent corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis.

Conclusions: early detection and an adequate approach to the treatment of low bone mass at the primary care (PC) level are essential to improve bone health in our paediatric population. These recommendations could contribute to improving prevention and treatment measures in at-risk children.