Prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis in Thai women

Objective: To determine the age-specific and age-adjusted prevalence of ost eopenia and osteoporosis in pre- and postmenopausal Thai women. Methods: This was a descriptive study of 1,935 Thai women ranging in age fr om 40 to 80 years, with randomly selected strata using multistage sampling and stratifying from six representative provinces of the country. After rec ruiting, all the women were interviewed by a well-trained interviewer using structured questionnaires. Bone mineral density (BMD) of lumbar spine 1-4 and nondominant hip was measured by a dual energy photon absorptiometer. Th e investigators were trained and standardized; inter- and intraobserver var iations were measured periodically. Every BMD outcome was re-examined by th e specialist. Age-specific prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia were d etermined using both Thai and Western standard BMD values. Age-adjusted pre valence of osteopenia and osteoporosis was calculated using the age-adjuste d direct method. Results: Using the Thai BMD reference, the age-specific prevalence of osteo porosis among Thai women rose progressively with increasing age to more tha n 50% after the age of 70. The age-adjusted prevalence of osteoporosis also rose progressively. It was 19.8%, 13.6%, and 10% for lumbar spine, femoral neck, and intertrochanteric. The age-adjusted prevalence of osteoporosis i ndicates the overall magnitude of that condition in the population or count ry. In our study, using a Western BMD reference resulted in a misleadingly high prevalence of osteoporosis in the population of Asian countries. Conclusion: It is important to calculate the age-adjusted prevalence of ost eopenia and osteoporosis to address the overall magnitude of the problem in Thai women. This will allow us to predict the socioeconomic impact of prev entable chronic conditions such as osteoporosis. The results obtained from this study are important data for public health policy: maximizing bone mas s throughout life as well as detection of important risk factors is essenti al.