How Common Is Osteoporosis? Figures and What to Write Down

Updated 10 October 2026

Prevalence figures for osteoporosis look simple until two sources give different numbers. A percentage depends on who was counted, which bones were measured and whether the figure is adjusted for age, and none of the published figures describes one person's bones.

Below, the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the National Institute on Aging and two bone foundations set out their figures. A table, a personal record, a word list, four steps and a one-page summary follow.

What the CDC, USPSTF, the National Institute on Aging and two bone foundations report about how common osteoporosis is

The NCHS data brief, based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, states: "In 2017-2018, the age-adjusted prevalence of osteoporosis at either the femur neck or lumbar spine or both among adults aged 50 and over was 12.6% and was higher among women (19.6%) compared with men (4.4%)." The same brief reports that low bone mass, "a precursor of osteoporosis," was found in 43.1% of adults aged 50 and over, and it notes that crude estimates differ: 12.0% for the total, 4.2% for men and 18.8% for women.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force repeats the headline figure in its screening summary: "The age-adjusted prevalence of osteoporosis is 12.6% among community-dwelling US residents 50 years or older." The National Institute on Aging puts it in plainer terms: "Osteoporosis affects about one in five women over age 50, but only one in 20 men."

Two foundations talk about broken bones rather than scans. The Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation writes that "about 54 million Americans have osteoporosis and low bone mass" and that "studies suggest that approximately one in two women and up to one in four men age 50 and older will break a bone due to osteoporosis." The International Osteoporosis Foundation adds that "even after breaking a bone, around 80% of patients are still not diagnosed and treated for osteoporosis, the underlying disease which has caused the fracture."

The National Institutes of Health page describes the T-score cut-off that defines the condition: "A T-score of -2.5 or lower means you may have osteoporosis."

These pages count different things. One counts scans of two bone sites, another counts people who will break a bone, and another counts people who were never diagnosed. None says what a person's own scan will show, and your own dated scans and fractures are the part only you can bring.

Dates of scans, fractures and visits can be entered once in My Labs within Osteoporosis Journey (by Health Journey Labs), so the personal figures sit in a single timeline.

A table of the figures: who was counted, which measure was used and what each number does not cover

Putting the numbers side by side makes the differences visible, and each row names the group and the measure behind the figure.

Published figures table, by Osteoporosis Journey

Reading across, the 12.6% and the one-in-five figures describe measured bone density in a survey, the one-in-two figure describes broken bones, and the 80% describes a gap in diagnosis. A reader who mixes these up would conclude that the sources contradict one another, when they answer different questions.

The table describes groups only. A published percentage is a tool for planning services and for understanding how widespread a condition is, and a person looking at it can easily feel either alarmed or reassured by a number that was never about them. Dates for your own scans, any broken bones and what was said about each help a clinician place you, and the guide to what to track with osteoporosis besides a T-score lists more items worth keeping.

Keeping each measure with its own date in My Labs of Osteoporosis Journey helps a clinician tell a scan result from a fracture history at a glance.

A personal bone-health record to set beside the published figures: scans, fractures and who said what

Published percentages are about groups, so the useful companion is a dated record of your own events. The sample rows below are invented to show the layout.

Table for a personal bone record, by Osteoporosis Journey

Copy numbers exactly as printed, since a T-score or height written from memory can drift. Add rows over time rather than replacing old ones, because the sequence of scans and events is what a clinician reads for. If a scan came from a different center, note the center in the "Where" column, since reports from different machines are not always directly comparable and the clinician may want to ask about it. Leave an event's last column blank when nothing is pending. If you are unsure of a date, write the month or season and mark it with a question mark, and the clinician can ask for the rest.

The record does not say whether your bones are strong or weak. It shows when each thing happened and what was said, so a clinician reading it can see the sequence. The guide to repeat DEXA scans and a scan calendar goes further on dating scans.

A fracture or scan from the record can become an entry in the Daily Journal of Osteoporosis Journey, and it stays on its date.

Words for the clinician about bone health: scans, fractures, height and the questions behind them

Clinicians ask about a few specific things, and plain words for each speed up the answer.

Words for bone health

These scan and fracture words are the ones Osteoporosis Journey keeps in its notes.

• Scan words: bone density scan, DEXA, hip, spine, report copied, date of last scan.
• Fracture words: broke a bone, wrist, hip, spine, after a fall, no fall, year it happened.
• Body words: height measured, got shorter, back curving, back pain started, no change.
• Family words: parent with a broken hip, sibling with osteoporosis, not sure.
• Question words: what the number means, when to scan again, who to ask, what is pending.

Pick whichever words match your history and date them. The NIH page says a T-score of -2.5 or lower means you may have osteoporosis, and it is the clinician who interprets that number alongside the rest of your history, so copy it rather than translate it. Sudden severe pain after a fall, or any urgent symptom, is a reason to call your clinician or local emergency number first and to write the notes later.

Words you pick for fractures and height can be stored in the Daily Journal of Osteoporosis Journey, as you would say them aloud.

Four steps from a headline percentage to your own questions at the clinic visit

News about prevalence can prompt a visit or a call, and a few steps make the appointment more productive. They arrange what you already know.

Headline-to-question steps, by Osteoporosis Journey

1. List every scan, fracture and height measure you know of, with approximate dates.
2. Copy any printed numbers from reports exactly.
3. Mark anything you are unsure of with a question mark.
4. Write two or three questions, with the most important first.

From Osteoporosis Journey, we recommend reading the list through the evening before the visit (Osteoporosis Journey checklist), so gaps are easy to spot and fill.

Questions can be plain: whether a scan has been done, where the report is held, when the clinic would look again. Published figures cannot answer any of them, and the clinic can.

In the visit, write each reply against its question, and add a date for any follow-up the clinic names. If the clinic asks for a scan, add the request date and the appointment date as two separate lines, since the gap between them is part of the history. The guide to tracking osteoporosis labs and DEXA dates suggests ways to keep the dates in order afterward.

Questions for the clinic can be saved in My Care Team within Osteoporosis Journey, with the most urgent one placed first.

A single summary sheet of your scan, fracture and height history for the clinician

A single page lets the clinician see your history before asking anything, and the underlying reports stay in your folder.

Summary of scans and fractures, by Osteoporosis Journey

• Each bone density scan, with its date and the numbers as printed.
• Each broken bone, with the year and how it happened.
• Height measures you know of.
• Family history, in your own words.
• What is pending or unclear.
• Two or three questions for this visit.

Offer the page at the start of the visit and suggest reading it together. Any addition the clinician makes goes in with its date.

The page records facts and dates. What they mean for your bones is for your clinician to say, and no page, source or app decides it. Urgent symptoms call for your local emergency number before anything else.

Print it or keep it on the phone, whichever is easier to hand over. After the visit, add a line with what was decided and any new dates, so the next version of the page starts where this one ended, and an old copy never gets mistaken for the current one.

The page can be exported from the Doctor Report in Osteoporosis Journey, with the dated entries behind it.

How Osteoporosis Journey can help

A page in a drawer is a fine beginning. If you would rather hold scans, fractures and questions in one dated place, the best osteoporosis apps guide sets the options out.

Osteoporosis Journey is a personal osteoporosis tracker from Health Journey Labs on the App Store and Google Play. Published figures describe groups, and a dated record shows a clinician where you stand in your own history. What your bones need is a question for your clinicians, and the record carries the dates and numbers into that conversation. Below is what you can use and how each part helps.

• My Meds — Logs medicine names, timing, dose; app-specific items: bone medicines, calcium/vitamin D you actually use as directed, pain options your clinician already cleared; read together with movement weeks, sleep, near-falls, the rest of the tracked history.
• Daily check-in — Logs physical symptoms, emotional state, nutrition, sleep, exercise, meds, external factors; app-specific items: pain, movement confidence, near-falls or falls, fear of fracture; read together with the rest of the logged history.
• Daily Journal — Logs free-text notes, voice entry; app-specific items: what movement was limited, footwear or lighting near a stumble, caregiver help, visit debriefs, leftover fear after a fall, a look-fine mismatch line; read together with scores and other logged history (adds context).
• Flare Tracker — Logs flag a day clearly worse than the usual hard week; app-specific items: a real fall, a cluster of near-falls, pain that jumps above baseline; read together with history across weeks (one-off spike vs repeating pattern).
• My Labs — Logs result dates; app-specific items: DEXA, vitamin D, calcium, other bone-related tests; read together with meds, falls, movement, function.
• Learn — Logs short education topics, prompts; app-specific items: meds adherence, falls awareness, cleared movement, visit prep, why fear of falling still belongs in the log; read together with your own logged weeks.
• AI companions — Logs Clara (general chat), specialist companions; app-specific items: knowledge, fitness, nutrition, relationships; read together with your logged history (companions already see it); used for: visit wording; a calm caregiver script; a listening ear after a scary near-fall night.
• Weekly Goals — Logs one small aim, whether it held; read together with real check-ins.
• My Care Team — Logs clinicians, short visit notes; app-specific items: tends to ask mainly about DEXA rather than near-falls; read together with logged history; used for: visit prep (what to ask and bring); notes during the visit; review afterward.
• Doctor Report — Logs one-page summary exported from logged history; app-specific items: dates, meds taken, falls or near-falls, movement, pain, how you functioned; read together with the history already logged; visit type: bone.
• My Assessments — Logs structured check-ins beyond daily scores, onboarding life and social context; read together with ongoing history.
• Food Tracker — Logs meal or drink lines, nutrition; read together with energy, sleep, bone-care.
• Weight Tracker — Logs scale or body notes; read together with the rest of the logged history.
• Period Tracker — Logs start and stop dates, flow, how heavy or light bleeding felt; read together with bone-care or pain, everything else logged.

Everything you log builds one history, and insights get stronger as it grows. Custom symptoms let you add your own labels.

Sources

• National Center for Health Statistics: Osteoporosis or Low Bone Mass in Older Adults, United States, 2017-2018
• U.S. Preventive Services Task Force: osteoporosis screening clinical summary
• National Institute on Aging: osteoporosis
• Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation: what is osteoporosis and what causes it
• International Osteoporosis Foundation: about osteoporosis
• National Institutes of Health: osteoporosis

FAQ

The answers below draw on the sources cited in this guide, and the app they mention is Osteoporosis Journey (by Health Journey Labs).