Assessment of osteoporosis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A study from the central region of Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES

To understand the impact of diabetes on bone mineral density and whether it increases the likelihood of osteoporosis.

METHODS

This study was performed on 327 Saudis (aged >40 years) who were screened for osteoporosis and diabetes mellitus (DM). The levels of osteoporosis were determined by an estimation of Bone mineral density (BMD) using a DEXA scan examination. The data on BMD from diabetic subjects were compared with healthy nondiabetic controls.

RESULTS

Out of 327 enrolled subjects, 38 (11.6%) were found to be osteoporotic, whereas 138 (42.2%) had DM. The data showed that the number of patients with osteoporosis in the DM group was 14 (36.8%), significantly lower than in nondiabetic patients, 21 (55.2%) (=0.0015). Notably, the data showed no significant difference in the mean BMD of the femur in patients with DM (0.926 g/cm) and non-diabetes (0.936 g/cm) (=0.280; T-score =0.4746). The mean BMD levels in the spine of the DM study group (1.049 g/cm) were significantly higher when compared with nondiabetic healthy controls (0.990 g/cm) (=0.0031).

CONCLUSION

Patients with diabetes had higher lumbar BMD than nondiabetics, although femoral BMD was similar. Patients with diabetes have a lower osteoporosis risk than nondiabetics.