HIGH FREQUENCY OF OSTEOPENIA IN YOUNG ADULTS OF KARACHI

Abstract

Background: Osteopenia or low bone density, generally considered the disease of the old, is now sneaking
around the younger generation. The increase in frequency of low trauma fractures is raising an alarm. This
study was aimed to explore the frequency of osteopenia amongst young adults in Karachi, Pakistan.
Methods: Non-probability consecutive sampling was used to choose 116 subjects at Ziauddin University,
Karachi, in January 2018. After informed consent participants underwent bone scans for measurement of
bone mineral density on their calcaneus (bone in heel). Tocategorize osteopenia T-score between -1.0 and
-2.5 was evaluated. All participants with T-score of -2.5 or below were identifiedas osteoporotic. The data
were entered on IBM SPSS statistics version 20.0 and descriptive analysis was done.
Results: Osteopenia was detected in 57 (49.1%) of the participants [42 (36.2%) male and 15 (12.9%) female]
of which 38 (32.8%) belonged to aged 21 to 35 years. Osteoporosis was found in 20 (17.2%) of this group. In
the older participants’ frequency of osteopenia and osteoporosis was 12.2% and 42.9% respectively. Chi
square test indicated no significant association between age and bone scan results (p=0.432). Frequency of
osteopenia was higher in males (56%) compared to females (36.6%) whereas, osteoporosis was higher in
females (53.7%) than males (12%). Results showed statistically significant association (p>0.01) with gender
and bone scan results.
Conclusion: Almost half the young adults in our study classified for osteopenia. Lifestyle modification factors
are hypothesized to play an important role towards this high frequency. Further studies should evaluate risk
factors for osteopenia in younger population.