[The effect of menopause and age on bone mineral density in women living in an urban environment in northern Croatia].

The results of measurement of bone mass in three areas (lumbar spine, femoral neck and radius) where osteoporotic fractures most commonly occur are presented. The sample of 103 women was divided into three groups: premenopausal, early menopausal (up to 5 years of menopause) and late menopausal (more than 5 years of menopause). Both menopausal groups were additionally divided in two subgroups regarding the previous fractures. A statistically significant difference (p < 0.01) was found between bone mineral density (lumbar spine, femoral neck) and bone mineral content (radius) among all the groups. No difference was established for bone mass between postmenopausal women with and without fractures (> 0.05) by using the Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance. A significant negative correlation (p < 0.01) was found between bone mass in all three tested regions on one side vs age of women as well as the period of menopause on the other. These results indicate that bone mass is significantly decreased in postmenopausal women. Therefore, the authors recommend densitometry to be employed in all postmenopausal women.