The degree of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis in the lumbar spine has
been compared in patients with spinal osteoarthritis and osteoporotic
fractures and in a normal control group of 252 elderly subjects, to in
vestigate the relationship between osteoarthritis and osteoporosis in
the spine. The two indices were highly significantly different in the
three groups (p<0.01). The degree of osteoarthritis in the osteoarthri
tic patients was higher (p<0.01) than in the fracture patients and the
normal control subjects, while the degree of osteoporosis in the frac
ture patients was higher than in osteoarthritic patients and normal co
ntrols (p<0.01). These data support the conclusion that osteoarthritis
and osteoporosis in the spine are inversely related.