BODY-FAT DISTRIBUTION AS A RISK FACTOR FOR OSTEOPOROSIS

Objective. The aim of this study was to compare the body fat distribut ion of patients with osteoporosis (OP) with that of an appropriately m atched non-PF control group. Design. Case control study. Setting. Depa rtment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Tygerberg Hospital. Participan ts. A total of 56 patients with histologically proven idiopathic OP, o f whom 39 were women (mean age 61 +/- 11 years) and 17 men (49 +/- 15 years), were compared with 125 age- and sex-matched non-OP (confirmed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) subjects, 98 women (60 +/- 11 yea rs) and 27 men (51 +/- 16 years). Outcome measures. Anthropometric dat a, including weight, height, skinfold measurements, mid-upper arm, wai st and hip circumferences, as well as elbow breadth. Results. The men and women with OP were significantly shorter (P = 0.04 and P = 0.03 re spectively) and of lower body mass (P = 0.04 and P = 0.02 respectively ) than the control subjects, although their mean body mass indices wer e comparable. The OP population had significantly lower skinfold, elbo w breadth and arm circumference values, although the majority of subje cts in both groups fell within the 15 - 35th percentiles. Despite thei r lower body mass, both the OP women (P = 0.009) and men (P = 0.002) h ad significantly higher waist/hip ratios than corresponding controls. Conclusion. Whatever the underlying pathogenesis, this new finding sug gests that, should these results be confirmed by larger studies, OP ca n be added to the list of diseases associated with a waist fat distrib ution.