Prevalence of osteoporosis among vulnerable adults residing in the northeastern region of India: A preliminary report from a tertiary care referral hospital

Abstract

Objectives: There is very little published literature about epidemiology of osteoporosis from the northeastern Region (NER) of India for effective secondary prevention. Reasons ascribed for lower bone mineral density in Indians include possible genetic differences, nutritional deficiency, and smaller skeletal size; this may be even more relevant for this region where per capita milk consumption is low. It is well known that osteoporosis often remains undiagnosed as a silent disease until a fragility fracture occurs and early detection can prevent fractures. The department of health research, the government of India in its recently included osteoporosis as one of the priority areas in the noncommunicable diseases and research on food-based approaches to prevent and manage osteoporosis is underway. Therefore, we intend to report a brief descriptive study on osteoporosis in our region. Patients and Methods: Our study was based on retrospective analysis of first 282 out of 336 patients undergoing dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan for possible osteoporosis between 2014 and 2017 in a large tertiary care teaching referral hospital located in the NER of India. This is the first such study from this region of India. Results: In our small study, involving potentially high-risk group residing in this region, vertebral osteoporosis was found to be much more common than femoral neck osteoporosis, making this group of patients at higher risk of subsequent osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture and future disability if not proactively treated, educated and followed up for proper compliance. Conclusions: Fortunately, most patients did not have any previous fracture despite found to have spinal and hip osteopenia or osteoporosis, meaning thereby that there is a window of opportunity for secondary prevention of new osteoporotic fractures. Food-based approach, physical activity and lifestyle modification through health education may be appropriate for prevention of osteoporosis and risk of fractures. A population-based study may be warranted for this region.

Keywords

• bone mineral density
• dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry
• osteoporosis
• prevalence