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Prevalence of osteoporosis among the elderly population of Iran

Archives of Osteoporosis volume 16, Article number: 16 (2021) Cite this article

Abstract

Summary

In a large population-based study of Iran, the age-standardized prevalence of osteoporosis was 24.6% in men and 62.7% in women aged ≥ 60 years. Osteoporosis was negatively associated with body mass index in both sexes, and with diabetes in men and hypertriglyceridemia in women.

Purpose

Population aging has made osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures an important health problem, especially in developing countries. This study aimed to explore the prevalence of osteoporosis and associated factors among the elderly population of the south-west of Iran.

Methods

Baseline data of the second stage of the Bushehr Elderly Health program was used. Spinal, total hip, or femoral neck osteoporosis was described as a BMD that lies 2.5 standard deviations or more, below the average values of a young healthy adult in the lumbar spine, total hip, or femoral neck, respectively. Osteoporosis at either site was defined as total osteoporosis. Age-standardized prevalence of osteoporosis was estimated. We used the modified Poisson regression with a robust variance estimator to identify the factors related to osteoporosis, adjusting for potential confounders.

Results

Overall, 2425 individuals (1166 men) aged over 60 years were included. In all, total osteoporosis was detected in 1006 (41.5%) of the participants. Using the reference value derived from Caucasian women aged 20–29 years, the age-standardized prevalence of total osteoporosis was 24.6 (95% CI: 21.9–27.3) in men, and 62.7 (95% CI: 60.0–65.4) in women. In men, osteoporosis was positively associated with age, smoking, history of fracture, and history of renal/liver diseases and negatively associated with body mass index (BMI) and diabetes. BMI, hypertriglyceridemia, and education were negatively correlated with osteoporosis in women, while years after menopause and history of fracture increased the likelihood of osteoporosis, significantly.

Conclusion

Results support the high prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia in the elderly population. Considering the importance of severe complications, especially fractures, comprehensive interventions should be expanded.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratefulness to the staff and researchers of the Bushehr Elderly Health program for their thoughtful contribution.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Osteoporosis Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Noushin Fahimfar, Sima Noorali, Shakiba Yousefi, Nekoo Panahi, Mahnaz Sanjari & Afshin Ostovar

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran

    Safoora Gharibzadeh

  3. Chronic Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, No. 10- Jalal –e-ale-ahmad st, chamran hwy, Tehran, Iran

    Gita Shafiee & Ramin Heshmat

  4. Elderly Health Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Farshad Sharifi & Neda Mehrdad

  5. School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Alireza Raeisi

  6. The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran

    Iraj Nabipour

  7. Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Bagher Larijani

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  1. Noushin Fahimfar
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  2. Sima Noorali
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  3. Shakiba Yousefi
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Correspondence to Afshin Ostovar.

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Fahimfar, N., Noorali, S., Yousefi, S. et al. Prevalence of osteoporosis among the elderly population of Iran. Arch Osteoporos 16, 16 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11657-020-00872-8

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Keywords

  • Osteoporosis
  • Osteopenia
  • Prevalence
  • Elderly
  • Iran