Influence of Different Reference Databases on Categorization of Bone Mineral Density: A Study on Rural Postmenopausal Women from Southern India

OSTA as a screening tool to predict osteoporosis in Indian postmenopausal women - a nationwide study

This cross-sectional study done on 5356 postmenopausal women showed that OSTA may be used as a reliable screening tool for osteoporosis across different regions of India, a country known for its ethno-linguistic, cultural, and genetic diversity.

BACKGROUND

The gold standard for diagnosing osteoporosis is DXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) scan, and this is not widely available across India. OSTA (Osteoporosis Self-Assessment Tool for Asians) score predicts risk of osteoporosis and can be used as reference tool for DXA. At a cutoff of ≤  + 1, OSTA predicted femoral neck osteoporosis with a sensitivity of 88% in a previous study among south Indian postmenopausal women. This study was done to validate the OSTA score in postmenopausal women across India.

METHODOLOGY

A cross-sectional study in 5356 postmenopausal women from four regions of India namely south, east, north, and west. Bone mineral density (BMD) and trabecular bone score (TBS) were assessed by DXA. The performance of OSTA in predicting BMD and TBS was assessed using ROC curve.

RESULTS

The mean (SD) age was 61.6 (7.6) years. The performance of OSTA in predicting osteoporosis was fair (P < 0.001) with an AUC of 0.727 (95% CI 0.705-0.749) in the south, 0.693 (95% CI 0.664-0.723) in east India, 0.730 (95% CI 0.700-0.759) in the north, and 0.703 (95% CI 0.672-0.735) in the western region. At a cut-off below + 1.0, sensitivity was 76-84% and specificity was 45-53% in diagnosing osteoporosis at any site. In predicting degraded microarchitecture, the AUC was 0.500-0.600.

CONCLUSION

OSTA may be reliably used as a screening tool for women at high risk of osteoporosis across India and may circumvent the limited availability of DXA scanners across the country.

Burden of Osteopenia and Osteoporosis Among Postmenopausal Women in India: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Aim

Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a major public health problem around the world. The objective of this systematic review is to determine the prevalence of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women in India.

Materials and Methods

This review was conducted based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We identified relevant studies through a search of literature published from 2010 to January 2021 in the databases PubMed, Web of Science, ProQuest, CINHAL, and PEDro databases. We searched for cross-sectional studies involving India that were published in English.

Results

There was a total of 1631 hits in the initial search and out of which 60 studies were selected for full-text review. Twelve studies were selected for qualitative analysis. Excluded studies were 48 with reasons: 20 studies had included other diseases such as knee arthritis, celiac diseases, diabetes mellitus, and kidney diseases. Eleven studies included premenopausal women, young adults, and men. Ten studies outcomes were different, and seven studies were excluded as they have done retrospective analysis and were commentaries. The pooled prevalence of osteoporosis at the lumbar spine region was 29%, the hip region was 6% and the femoral neck region was 29% whereas the pooled prevalence of osteopenia at the lumbar spine region was 37%, the hip was 6%, and femoral neck region was 37%.

Conclusion

This systematic review found that postmenopausal women are at significant risk of developing low bone mineral density, and the prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia was high in the lumbar area.

Trabecular Bone Score and Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women with Morbid Obesity-A Clinical Paradox

Obesity has long been considered to have a protective effect on bone, but specific complications in those with morbid obesity are known to have a detrimental impact on bone architecture. We aimed to study the bone microarchitecture (TBS—trabecular bone score) and bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women with morbid obesity compared to obese and non-obese age-matched women. Eighty-five consecutive postmenopausal women with morbid obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 35 kg/m²) were enrolled and compared to age-matched obese (n = 80) and non-obese postmenopausal controls (n = 85). The BMD and TBS were assessed in all subjects using a Hologic-QDR 4500-W Discovery-A DXA scanner. The mean BMD (gm/cm²) at the femoral neck in women with morbid obesity was found to be significantly lower as compared to the age-matched postmenopausal obese controls (0.723 versus 0.762, p-value = 0.002). The BMD at the lumbar spine and hip showed similar trends but were not statistically significant. The bone microarchitecture was found to be significantly lower in those with morbid obesity (1.205) as compared to the other two groups (obesity 1.244; non-obese 1.228) (p < 0.013). Though obesity was associated with a better bone density and bone microarchitecture in postmenopausal women, a paradoxical lower value was seen in those with morbid obesity.

Knowledge gap regarding osteoporosis among medical professionals in Southern India

RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES

Osteoporosis is a common health problem in India, which leads to significant morbidity and mortality in elderly individuals. Lack of knowledge and awareness among medical professionals is one of the important barriers in management of these patients. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess knowledge pertaining to diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis among a group of Indian medical practitioners.

METHODS

The study participants included 222 allopathic medical professionals, either graduate or postgraduate working in primary or secondary health care levels. They were assessed using a previously validated Fogelman's multiple choice questionnaire. Out of a total of 18 questions, four questions pertained to knowledge of diagnosis, three questions to treatment decisions, one question to assess knowledge regarding recommended dosage of vitamin D and calcium supplementation, five questions concerned medication use, and the rest to assess attitude and practices. The correct answers were converted into scores and expressed as percentages with a maximum of 100.

RESULTS

The mean total score among them was 22.5%, which was quite low. Almost all of them had a score of less than 50%. Medical practitioners performed better in diagnosis-related questions, (19.4% answered all options correctly) than in medication knowledge (no correct response regarding side effects and 2% regarding contraindications). In treatment-related decisions, 37.4% answered correctly for duration of treatment, and 59% answered correctly for treatment goal. Only 1.4% of them were able to answer correctly regarding recommended calcium and vitamin D intake. Professional literature, conferences, and Continuing Medical Education (CME's) were regarded as the main sources of information on the subject by 40% of practitioners.

CONCLUSION

This study showed suboptimal knowledge among a group of medical professionals regarding various aspects of diagnosis and management of osteoporosis, and it stipulates the need for escalating the efforts to improve their knowledge regarding various aspects of osteoporosis.

Longitudinal changes in bone mineral density and trabecular bone score following yearly zoledronic acid infusion in postmenopausal osteoporosis-a retrospective-prospective study from southern India

This study from southern India showed that yearly administration of zoledronic acid demonstrated significant improvement in BMD at lumbar spine following two doses and no decline in BMD at femoral neck or hip and trabecular bone score (TBS) in postmenopausal women.

PURPOSE

There is limited information available with regard to the impact of zoledronic acid treatment on bone mineral density (BMD) and trabecular bone score (TBS) in Indian postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. We studied the changes in BMD at femoral neck (FN), hip and lumbar spine (LS), and in TBS following yearly administration of zoledronic acid (ZA) in subjects with postmenopausal osteoporosis.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This was a prospective-retrospective study which included subjects on follow-up after administration of yearly zoledronic acid, over the past 6 years. Postmenopausal women with a T score of ≤ - 2.5 at any site, assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), were included.

RESULTS

A total of 620 subjects had received ZA during the study period, 197 postmenopausal women were eligible, and follow-up data were available in 164 and 103 at 1st and 2nd follow-up yearly visits respectively. The mean (SD) age and BMI of the women were 63.2 (8.5) years and 25.6 (4.5) kg/m² respectively. There was significant increment in LS BMD from baseline to the 1st and 2nd follow-up visits, respectively (mean (SD), 0.718 (0.116), 0.734 (0.104), 0.762 (0.127) g/cm², p = 0.024). No decline in the BMD at FN and hip at first and second follow visit was found. The TBS scores (n = 90) on baseline and follow-up visits were 1.260 (±0.11), 1.256 (± 0.15), and 1.242 (± 0.17) (p value = 0.71).

CONCLUSION

Lumbar spine BMD showed significant improvement with zoledronic acid treatment. No decline was noted in femoral neck BMD and TBS with treatment.

A Clinical Study of a Standardized Extract of Leaves of Dalbergia sissoo (Roxb ex DC) in Postmenopausal Osteoporosis

Context:

Dalbergia sissoo had shown anti-osteoporotic and fracture-healing activities in animal models of postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO). Standardized extract of leaves of D. sissoo (SEL-Ds) was clinically evaluated for osteoporosis.

Aims:

To investigate the anti-osteoporotic activity of D. sissoo in PMO by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), biochemical markers, and effect on clinical profile. Tolerability was assessed by organ function tests and adverse events.

Settings and Design:

An open-labeled prospective clinical study in ambulant settings was conducted at the menopausal health-care facility of a women's hospital.

Materials and Methods:

Thirty women (45–69 years) were enrolled for this 1-year study. Evaluations were basally, fortnightly twice, and three monthly four times. SEL-Ds (300 mg) twice daily was administered orally. Calcium (250 mg) and Vitamin D (200 IU) were given twice a day. The efficacy of SEL-Ds was assessed by DXA-scan (spine, femur), by biochemical markers, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and anti-inflammatory marker high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). Baseline symptom changes and adverse events were carefully recorded.

Statistical Analysis:

Summary statistics (n, mean, standard deviation, median, and maximum and minimum values) of changes from baseline values and Student's “t-” test for P values were used.

Results and Discussion:

SEL-Ds was well tolerated at given dose for 1 year. Anti-osteoporotic and anti-inflammatory activities of SEL-Ds were demonstrated by reduction in TNF-α (12.04 ± 2.81–2.35 ± 1.08 pg/ml), ALP (208.75 ± 45.88–154.52 ± 37.25 IU/L), and hs-CRP (6.1 ± 0.77–3.9 ± 0.47 mg/L). BMD-score on DXA-scan also remained unchanged at majority of the bone locations (increased 13/75, unchanged 51/75, and decreased 08/75).

Conclusions:

D. sissoo has demonstrated anti-osteoporotic and anti-inflammatory activities as indicated by decline in circulating TNF-α along with concurrent reduction in ALP. The nondecline in BMD index in the majority confirms the anti-osteoporotic activity.