Publication:

Risk factors influencing the bone health in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women

Background Bone loss is being increasingly identified in premenopausal and early postmenopausal women. The significance of low bone mineral density (BMD) in females needs to be addressed. Female reproductive system plays a major role in regulating the bone loss from menarche to senescence. The purpose of our study is to identify the menstrual and reproductive factors that may lead to decreased bone mass during the premenopausal period so that early intervention could lead to improved bone health.

Methods The study was conducted on 100 women aged 40 - 60 years attending the outpatient department in Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak, Haryana, India. Their age, parity, body mass index, age at menarche, age at first pregnancy, duration of breast feeding, use of combined oral contraceptive, interpregnancy interval and BMD values were recorded. BMD was measured by dual- energy x-ray absorptiometry. Pearson test was used for correlation analysis. Comparison between the groups was conducted using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s test.

Results A significant negative correlation was established between parity, age at menarche, duration of breast feeding and BMD values. On the other hand, BMI and duration of oral contraceptive use showed a significant positive correlation with BMD values.

Conclusions Identification of risk factors for low BMD will provide the opportunity for early intervention to preventosteoporosis and will reduce the burden of unnecessary BMD testing in elderly age group for screening of osteoporosis.