Volume 195 - Issue 6
Prevalence of osteoporosis in Australian men and women: Geelong Osteoporosis Study
Authors: Margaret J Henry, Julie A Pasco, Geoff C Nicholson and Mark A Kotowicz
Med J Aust 2011; 195 (6): 321-322. || doi: 10.5694/mja11.10571
Published online: 19 September 2011
Published online: 19 September 2011
To the Editor: Few reports have been published on bone mineral density (BMD) among randomly sampled populations. Organisations such as Osteoporosis Australia and the Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society rely on research to supply reliable data that are representative of the Australian community. This information informs practitioners, researchers and policymakers of the size of the problem of osteoporosis in Australia. Our study aimed to document the proportion of individuals who have reduced BMD.
The Geelong Osteoporosis Study recruited a random population-based sample of individuals from the Barwon Statistical Division, an area surrounding Geelong, Victoria. This region is well suited to epidemiological research as it is geographically well defined and has a large, stable population (259 000) with sufficient socioeconomic diversity for it to be representative of the Australian population.1,2
Age-stratified random samples of 1494 women (median age 54.0 years; range 20–94 years; recruited 1994–1997)3 and 1467 men (median age 56.0 years; range 20–97 years; recruited 2001–2006)4 were drawn from electoral rolls. Participation rates were 67% for men and 77% for women. We measured BMD at the spine and femoral neck by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (Lunar; GE Healthcare, Madison, Wis, USA). Reference ranges for BMD in men4 and women3 have been published previously. We categorised BMD as normal (T score, > − 1.0), osteopenia (T score, − 2.5 to − 1.0) or osteoporosis (T score, < − 2.5) using the osteoporosis and osteopenia thresholds developed for postmeno-pausal women. Among those with discordant BMD, the site with the lower BMD was used in this classification.
Normal BMD was predominant among men aged < 50 years (Box). A consistent proportion of men older than 50 years, including those aged > 80 years, had osteopenia (range, 49%–64%); 19% of those aged > 80 years had osteoporosis. Most women aged < 55 years had BMD in the normal range. Osteopenia was most prevalent among those aged 55–79 years, and osteoporosis dominated (51%) among those aged > 80 years.
The osteoporosis and osteopenia thresholds developed for postmenopausal women may not be the most appropriate cut-points for diagnosis in younger women and in men; however, we used them because they are the currently accepted thresholds. Although sex-specific thresholds for defining osteoporosis might best be defined on the basis of absolute fracture risk, until such data are available, T-score criteria continue to be used. After standardising for age and sex to the 2006 Australian population,5 we found that 5.9% of men and 22.8% of women aged 50 years and over, and 12.9% of men and 42.5% of women aged 70 years and over, would be classified as having osteoporosis.
Competing interests
Mark Kotowicz and Geoff Nicholson have received consulting fees or honoraria from Amgen, Merck Sharp and Dohme, Servier, Novartis and Sanofi-Aventis, and speaker fees from Novo Nordisk. Julie Pasco has received consulting fees and honoraria from Amgen, and speaker fees from Eli Lilly and Sanofi-Aventis. Mark Kotowicz, Julie Pasco and Geoff Nicholson have received institutional funding from the Dairy Research and Development Corporation and Amgen.
Acknowledgements
We thank the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation and the National Health and Medical Research Council for funding this study.
References
- Henry MJ, Pasco JA, Nicholson GC, et al. Prevalence of osteoporosis in Australian women: Geelong Osteoporosis Study. J Clin Densitom 2000; 3: 261-268.
- Pasco JA, Sanders KM, Henry MJ, et al. Calcium intakes among Australian women: Geelong Osteoporosis Study. Aust N Z J Med 2000; 30: 21-27. 0_i1140998
- Henry MJ, Pasco JA, Pocock NA, et al. Reference ranges for bone densitometers adopted Australia-wide: Geelong Osteoporosis Study. Australas Radiol 2004; 48: 473-475. 0_i1141000
- Henry MJ, Pasco JA, Korn S, et al. Bone mineral density reference ranges for Australian men: Geelong Osteoporosis Study. Osteoporos Int 2010; 21: 909-917. 0_i1141003
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. Census of population and housing: basic community profile, 2006. Canberra: ABS, 2007. (ABS Cat. No. 2001.0.) 0_i1141005
When ‘Liver Enzymes’ Are Not Hepatic: Late-Onset Pompe Disease
Shauna Madigan, Georgina England, Wayne Rankin
Primary Hyperparathyroidism in Adults: Recent Developments in Diagnosis and Management
Elizabeth Wootton, Sunita M. C. De Sousa, Richard L. Prince, Donald S. A. McLeod, David A. Pattison, Mathis Grossmann
Severe Hypoglycaemia Secondary to Chronic Opioid-Induced Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis Suppression: An Under-Recognised Phenomenon
Michael Do, Annabelle Hayes, Malgorzata Brzozowska
Rethinking diabetes care for Indigenous Australians: the need for Indigenous‐codesigned and led diabetes models of care
Natalie Nanayakkara, Sharon Atkinson‐Briggs, Alicia J Jenkins, Neale D Cohen
The first Australian evidence‐based guidelines on male infertility
Darren J Katz, Liza O’Donnell, Robert I McLachlan, Tim J Moss, Clare V Boothroyd, Veena Jayadev, Sarah R Catford