Abstract
BACKGROUND: Bone and muscle mass decline after menopause. The risk of osteoarthritis (OA), sarcopenia, and osteoporosis increases in later life. Our objective aimed to assess the possible factors affecting osteoarthritis in menopausal women. METHODS: This is a registry study of osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and osteoarthritis. All subjects accepted bone mineral density (BMD) and body composition studies, and X-rays of both knees were performed. A medical history was taken and biochemical data were recorded. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the associations between the presence of osteoarthritis and BMD, muscle mass, and other parameters. RESULTS: A total of 139 patients were enrolled. The mean age of the patients was 73.86 ± 5.83 years in the osteoarthritis group and 74.53 ± 9.90 in the non-osteoarthritis group (p = 0.663). The mean body mass index (BMI) was 24.36 ± 3.64 kg/m(2) in the osteoarthritis group, compared with 23.78 ± 3.61 in the non-osteoarthritis group (p = 0.366). The lumbar spine T score was -2.06 ± 1.33 g/cm(2) in the osteoarthritis group, and -1.25 ± 1.76 in the non-osteoarthritis group (p = 0.006). There were no significant differences in smoking, alcohol consumption, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, neurological disease, and chronic kidney disease between the two groups. When we used osteoarthritis as the outcome, we found that the lumbar spine T score had a significant association with osteoarthritis, with a high T score associated with less osteoarthritis formation (p = 0.024, odds ratio (95% confidence interval) 0.06 (0-0.69)). CONCLUSIONS: Knee osteoarthritis was associated with lumbar spine bone density. This study provides the initial information required to develop clinical algorithms for the early identification of potential high-risk populations, as well as essential information for the development of policies for the detection and prevention of osteoarthritis in menopausal women.