Osteoporosis Screening Based On Body Mass Index, Years Since Menopause And Age Among Postmenopausal Women In South Central China

We aimed to screen for high risk factors for osteoporosis and provide appropriate criteria for bone mineral testing for osteoporosis screening in healthy postmenopausal women. This cross-sectional study surveyed 782 healthy postmenopausal women aged 50-77 years from South Central China by using a questionnaire. Bone mineral density was measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry. Subjects were divided into two groups according to their T-scores: osteoporosis group and non-osteoporosis group. The chi(2) test was used to compare categorical variables between the two groups, while logistic regression models were used to identify osteoporosis-related risk factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was applied to evaluate the prognostic performance of age, years since menopause, and body mass index (BMI) in predicting osteoporosis in postmenopausal women in China. We found that age, years since menopause, BMI, history of fragility fractures, and fall history significantly differed between the two groups (P < 0.05). However, only BMI (beta = -0.479), years since menopause (beta = 0.318), and age (beta = 0.298) were significantly correlated with osteoporosis after logistic regression analysis (P < 0.05). The optimal cutoffs for BMI, years since menopause, and age were 22.81 kg/m(2) (area under the ROC curve [AUC]: 0.624; 95% CI: 0.584-0.664), 10.05 years (AUC: 0.658; 95% CI: 0.619-0.697), and 62.45 years (AUC: 0.644; 95% CI: 0.604-0.684), respectively. The present study demonstrates that older age, longer menopause duration, lower BMI, history of fragility fractures, and fall history are risk factors for osteoporosis. Bone mineral density testing for osteoporosis screening is indicated in healthy postmenopausal women from South Central China who are aged > 62 years, went through menopause > 10 years ago, or have a BMI of < 23 kg/m(2).