Three-quarters of these individuals are not diagnosed with osteoporosis and lose the opportunity for appropriate care.

At the lower threshold, the researchers found 9 percent of those diagnosed with osteoporosis were misdiagnosed.

But the researchers speculate that these women might have been diagnosed with osteoporosis or other conditions that are also risk factors for early menopause.

They compared 10,660 people who were diagnosed with osteoporosis between 1998 and 2008 to 31,980 randomly selected patients who were similar, but without osteoporosis.