risk factors for spinal osteoporosis as compared with femoral osteoporosis in urban iranian women

background: we aimed to define and compare the risk factors of spinal and femoral osteoporosis in postmenopausal iranian women. method: it was a multicentre based study carried out in two stages during 2002 to 2005 among post menopausal women in tehran. in first stage case group included 140 women with diagnosed spinal osteoporosis using dexa method as definition of who and controls were 167 women with normal spinal bmd. in second stage, among the same study population case groups were 72 women with total femoral neck osteoporosis. the controls included 191 women with normal femoral bmd.` odds ratio was used for estimation the association of risk factors with spinal and femoral osteoporosis. results: plus common well known osteoporosis risk factors, significant risk factors for each region with their odds ratios included: steroid use (2.4) and low activity (3.6) for femoral osteoporosis and parity>3 (2) and lactation duration > 2 yr (1.9) for spinal osteoporosis. conclusions: there are some common and different protective and risk factors for spinal and femoral osteoporosis in this population.