The Current Issues on Osteoporosis among Male Saudi Arabians

Abstract

Background and Objective: Osteoporosis was reported to be common among Saudi Arabian population. In the last decade there have been no reports related to the male osteoporosis in Saudi Arabian citizens. The objective of this study was to find the hospital-based prevalence of male osteoporosis among Saudi Arabians. Methodology: This is the retrospective study between January 2014 and December 2016 in which all patients who were referred for DEXA (Dual Energy X ray Absorptiometry) scan to the radiology department of the King Fahd Hospital of the University, AlKhobar. Patient’s demographic data was collected from the medical records. Patients who were younger than 50 years and those who had a fragility fracture were excluded from the analysis. From the IPAC the readings of the DEXA were collected. Associated diseases of the patients were also extracted from the QuadruMed Data Base. The data was entered in the database and analyzed using SPSS Inc. version 19 and p value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: Four hundred and fifty five patients had a DEXA scan during the study period. Three hundred and seventy one (81.5%) were ≥50 years. The average was 65.33±9.85 years (Range 50-97). On the basis of Spinal T score, 222 (59.8%) were osteoporotic with the spinal T score of <-3.58±0.88, while with hip T score 120 (32.3%) were osteoporotic with T score of <-3.24±0.59. Thirty-six (9.7%) had a normal DEXA of spine and 74(19.9%) of patients had normal DEXA when Hip was taken into consideration. Patients could be divided into four groups based on their diseases; they were on treatment for Cardiac disease 106 (28.5%), Diabetes mellitus 95 (25.7%), osteoarthritis 141 (38%) and Respiratory Disease 29 (7.8%). Based on the Spinal T score osteoporosis was observed in 61/106 (57.5%) patients with cardiac disease, 62/95 (65.3%) Diabetics, in osteoarthritis 83/141 (58.9%) and 16/29 (55.1%) in patients with respiratory system diseases. Majority of the patients had vitamin D3 analysis and were most of the patients were in the deficiency range. From 222 (59.83%) patients who were diagnosed to have osteoporosis only 108 (48.64%) were on appropriate treatment for osteoporosis. Conclusion: In conclusion this study finds that prevalence of osteoporosis in Saudi Arabian males have increased in the last decade, We believe more determined attempts to be encouraged to early screen, and report their observation to come to a consensus about the prevalence of male osteoporosis and implement appropriate measures to limit the further rise in the prevalence of osteoporosis among the male population of Saudi Arabia.