Prevalence Of Osteoporosis And Osteopenia Among Pakistani Pre And Post Menopausal Women

A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1416 women (age: 25 years or more), belonging to Pre and post-menopausal women (1351 & 65 respectively). All subjects were interviewed by using a structured Performa for prevalence of risk factors. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured to determine the degree of Osteoporosis and Osteopenia by speed of sound (SOS) and broad band ultrasound attenuation (BUA) in the calcaneus bone. It was observed that 272 (19.2%) amongst all subjects were osteoporotic, 890 (62.9%) osteopenic whereas only 254 (17.9%) were normal. When assessment was done in groups, it was found that out of the total postmenopausal women (n=65), 32 (49.5%) were osteoporotic while 28 (43.1%) were found to be osteopenic. On the other hand, in premenopausal women group (n=1351), 240 (17.83%) were found to be Osteoporotic while 862 (63.8%) were found to be Osteopenic. There was however no significant relation in the BMI of all the three groups. The prevalence of osteoporosis was found to be high in postmenopausal but Osteopenia in premenopausal women was reported to be alarmingly high in premenopausal women probably due to lifestyle and dietary risk factors. There is a need to explore the precise causative factors associated with the high prevalence of Osteopenia recorded in the present study.