Attention to the bone health of a neglected rural-tribal population in India: A pilot study

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this pilot study was to analyze the need and feasibility of conducting prospective research on the epidemiological factors of bone mineral density (BMD) in the at-risk population in a rural and tribal-dominated area based on a screening test. Methods: This community-based retrospective cross-sectional study was based on data from the medical records from July 2021 to September 2021 at community camps organized in a rural area of Deoghar district of Jharkhand, India, and the at-risk patients who had undergone ultrasound-based BMD measurement were included in this study. Results: The mean age of the patients (N = 216) was 68.2 ± 10.2 years (range 35–73 years) with a mean T-score of -0.83 ± 0.09 (range -2.78–0.3, 95% CI 0.19). 70.3% (n = 152) of the patients were diagnosed as either osteopenic or osteoporotic based on the T-score. 14.8% (n = 32) of the patients had a comorbidity making them susceptible for low BMD. BMD was significantly low in patients above 60 years of age (t - 3.36, P – 0.0005), presence of comorbidity (t – 3.12, P – 0.001), and urban population (t - -1.93, P – 0.02). Conclusion: Although DEXA remains the study of choice, QUS can be used in primary healthcare systems in the developing world for the purposes of screening. Females, elderly, and urban residence have an increased chance of low BMD. This pilot study shows that a large-scale prospective study analyzing various aspects of bone health including dietary and lifestyle practices is the need of the hour.

Keywords

• bone mineral density
• developing nation
• epidemiology
• rural
• tribal