FRAX tool now available as version 3.5 in 18 languages

FRAX, which is available free online at http://www.shef.ac.uk/FRAX/, is being used by an increasing number of physicians around the world - the online version alone is used to calculate 10-year probability of fracture in approximately 2.8 million patients annually, with numbers growing steadily.

The FRAX tool is country-specific and can be used with or without the input of Bone Mineral Density (BMD) values measured at the femoral neck.

Launched on January 13, 2012, version 3.5 of the tool now includes new models for Ecuador, Norway, Russia, Slovakia and Sri Lanka. The model for Sri Lanka is the first surrogate model, built by combining national mortality data with hip fracture data from a representative, surrogate country. Revised epidemiological data have also been incorporated into the models for Belgium, Czech Republic, Italy and Lebanon.

The FRAX tool is now available for the following countries/territories:

• Asia - China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore (3 models), Philippines, Sri Lanka (surrogate model), South Korea
• Europe - Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Malta, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and UK
• Middle East and Africa - Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia
• North America - Canada, USA (4 models)
• Latin America - Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico
• Oceania - Australia, New Zealand

Version 3.5 is available in the following 18 languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Czech, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.

Dr Eugene McCloskey, a co-founder of FRAX and Professor in Adult Bone Disease and Honorary Consultant at the Metabolic Bone Centre, University of Sheffield UK, stated, "The availability of FRAX has really stimulated a great deal of interest in the epidemiology and burden of osteoporosis. Fracture probability continues to be incorporated into an increasing number of clinical guidelines. We welcome the opportunity to work with researchers in many countries to continue to develop the number of available FRAX models."

FRAX is more widely accessible than ever before. A stand-alone version of FRAX that operates on a desktop or laptop computer without the need for internet access has been available since September 2011. FRAX-Desktop, developed in cooperation with the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and available by subscription at http://who-frax.org/index.php can be licensed in two different formats. The Individual-Entry version can be used to assess an unlimited number of individual patients in the clinic and the Multi-Patient Entry version is designed for researchers who need to analyse data from large cohorts in a single operation.

FRAX has also been incorporated into several types of densitometers and is available as an application on the i-Phone and i-Pad obtainable at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/frax/id370146412?mt=8.