A Description of How Advanced Practice Nurses Screen for Osteoporosis in Maryland

Osteoporosis is a major health problem in the United States, yet the evidence suggests that practitioners often fail to screen for osteoporosis risk and, as a result, underdiagnose and fail to treat the disease. Because little is known about how well advanced practice nurses (APNs) evaluate osteoporotic risk, determining the extent to which they screen may enhance our understanding of the scope of APN diagnostic practice. The purpose of this study was 3-fold: (a) to determine if APNs routinely screen for osteoporotic risks, (b) to ascertain how they screen, and (c) to identify barriers that influence osteoporosis screening. Survey methods were used to poll members of the Nurse Practitioner Association of Maryland (n = 357) who identified themselves as adult, family, geriatric, and women’s health nurse practitioners. The results suggest that master’s-prepared APNs screen for osteoporosis more so than APNs with doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degrees. In addition, adult APN screened more often than family APNs and APNs in urban areas screened more frequently than rural-based APNs. Logistic regression failed to predict which APNs were likely to screen for osteoporosis.